Harry Potter and the Magic of Love
by TJ Boswell
Summary: Set in the Chamber of Secrets: Harry Potter meets Hallie Parker and her twin, Annie James and go through the events of his second year. Love sparks between Harry and Hallie, and some things happen that nobody expects...
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 1: Weasley Cousins

_The Burrow; West Country, England_

Molly and Arthur Weasley sat at the kitchen table, talking excitedly the morning of the thirtieth of July. A letter lay on the table, and Ron, Fred and George Weasley sat down for breakfast. Fred saw the letter and picked it up. "Mum, Dad, what's this about?" he asked his parents as he ate.

"Oh, that would be from your Aunt Elizabeth," said Mrs. Weasley smiling. "She's a Muggle and had a pair of identical twin girls. She's my sister by blood, though she's a blonde."

"So, we have cousins?" asked Ron. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley nodded proudly. Taking the letter, he said, "This says they're allowed to go to Hogwarts with us this year! Where are they now?"

"Hallie Parker and Annie James are at a camp in the United States," said Mr. Weasley. "Your mum and I were having a discussion on how to fetch them." Mrs. Weasley gave him a pleading look, but he went on. "I suggested using the car, but your mother says it's a bad idea flying over a Muggle area in the daylight, even if we have an Invisibility Booster."

"Mum, we have to get them soon!" said Fred. "If Harry's coming over this weekend, they have to meet them." George nodded, and winked at his brother. Thankfully, neither of their parents saw this and they stood up to go upstairs. "Um, George, Ron and I have to talk a moment, and we'll be down to discuss this later." Once in the twins' bedroom, they shut the door. "Okay, here's the plan. We take the car tonight. Should we get Harry first, or the girls?"

"I say we get the girls first, since they're farther away, and then get Harry," said George. Ron agreed with him. "That way they'll get to meet Harry, and hopefully, we'll be home before Mum finds out we took the car."

"Brilliant, George," said Fred. "Okay then, we'll leave tonight, and hope to God we don't get caught." They all shook hands and went back downstairs to talk with their parents.

Later that night, Fred, George and Ron hopped into the old Ford Anglia and started it up. The engine roared to life, and they flew into the air toward the United States of America. Along the way, Fred hit the Invisibility Booster and they and the car went invisible for a while. George had a map in his hand and pointed his twin eastward. Finally, after two hours, now nearing 5:00 in the morning in Maine, they landed the car beside a bus and got out. "Okay, so all we have to do is find Annie, who will know who we are, and introduce ourselves to Hallie."

"Right, but how is that going to work? From what Mum said, neither of them knows the other exists!" Ron whispered as they walked through the camp. "How are we going to introduce ourselves to someone who doesn't know their own sister?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," said George smiling. "I see two girls in that lonely cabin over there, and they look really happy." Fred and Ron looked where he was looking and smiled as well. Exchanging an excited look, the three siblings set off toward the lonely cabin. "Isolation Cabin? Blimey, they really are related to us. Got into trouble by the sound of it." As they reached the cabin, Fred knocked and walked in. "Excuse us, but is one of you Annie James?"

"Fred?" said the girl to his left. "What are you three doing here?" Fred explained about the letter and that they were on a tight schedule. "Okay, well, we just found out we were twins, so let me write a letter to Mum, and Hallie can write to Dad."

"Ann, are you nuts?" Hallie whispered. "Dad would flip if he found out we found each other after eleven years." Annie sighed and told her to pack. "i think I remember you guys from somewhere, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Oh, you'll figure that out later, Hal," said Ron. "By the way, you two get to meet a friend of mine. His name is Harry Potter, and he's very nice. That's why we're on a tight schedule. We have to get him before Mum finds out the car is gone."

"Can you drive?" asked Hallie. Ron shook his head, and her eyes widened in horror. She almost passed out when George said that they could fly it. "Fly? I didn't know that was possible!"

"Well, it isn't normally, but it is when you enchant it with magic," said Fred. "Anyway, hop in and we're off to Harry's house." The girls hopped into the back with Ron and saw the ground leave as they flew into th air. "Well, today was the last day of camp, right?" The girls nodded. "Good. Nobody would miss you, except for your parents, of course, but you're going with us, so you'll be safe."

_Number Four, Privet Drive, Surrey_

Harry Potter sat on his bed, depressed that his Uncle Vernon put bars on his window and that a house-elf named Dobby warned him not to go to Hogwarts this year. He was about to drift off to sleep when he heard a loud roar and two bright lights shone into his room and he noticed two pairs of twins and his friend Ron Weasley. "Ron, Fred, George!" he said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, of course," said Ron leaning out the back widow. "Stand back so Fred can pull the bars off!" Harry moved as Fred threw a hook around the bars. "Okay, Fred, go!" Fred shifted into gear and stepped on the gas pedal. The bars came off and Harry heard his uncle get out of bed. "Come on! Get your trunk and Hedwig and let's go!"

"Harry Potter!" yelled Vernon. He unlocked the door and opened it. "Hurry! He's getting away!" Harry was halfway out the window when Vernon grabbed his leg. "You're not going anywhere!"

"Get off!" Harry yelled shaking his foot free. Uncle Vernon fell out of the window and Fred sped off with Harry in the back next to a redhead girl smiling at him. "Hello, I'm Harry Potter. I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Hallie Parker," said Hallie looking into his eyes. "Um, you have the cutest green eyes." She and Harry blushed crimson and looked away. "Sorry, didn't mean that to come out so corny, but it's true."

"Um, could we wait until we got home, please?" asked George. "Sorry to interrupt the love fest here, but we're ready to land in the garden, and we don't want to be caught." Hary and Hallie nodded as Annie gave a giggle. The car landed and all six walked into the large house. "Come on now, we're almost in."

"It's not much," said Ron trying to be as quiet as he could, "but it's home." Hallie and Annie gasped as their Aunt Molly came out looking very angry. "Mum!"

"Where have you been?" she shrieked. "Beds empty, no note, car gone! You could have died! You could have been seen!"

"Mum, we had to get our cousins from camp!" Fred explained. "Not to mention that Harry's window was barred up thanks to his very evil Muggle relatives." Mrs. Weasley said no more but gave them breakfast. "So, Hallie, you've met our mother, what do you think?"

"Hallie, dear, I was going through your suitcase, and found this." Mrs. Weasley said holding up a small stuffed rabbit. "Is it yours?"

"Oh, that's my Cuppy," said Hallie. "Yeah, I had it since I was little, so I packed it along for camp." Mrs. Weasley nodded and put it back. "Aunt Molly, where's Uncle Arthur at?"

"Dad's at work," said Ron. "He works at the Ministry of Magic at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. He's the head of it." Harry smiled and ate his sausages. "So, what's Uncle Nick like?"

"Dad and I own a vineyard in California, which is going very well, I might add." Hallie explained. "You know, if you wanted to, you could make homemade applesauce with the apples you have in your orchard." Mrs. Weasley thought about that, but decided not to. "Oh, come on! It'll be fun for the family, you know. Dad and I pick grapes all the time, and he goes to the vineyard to make the wine."

"Annie, how is Elizabeth's wedding gown business going?" asked Mrs. Weasley thoguhtfully. "I meant to ask, but I forgot in our last letter."

"She's becoming quite famous, actually," said Annie. Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not joking, Harry. A princess in Greece actually bought one a month ago."

"I bet she's not as famous as Harry, here," laughed Gorge. "Harry's story is a legend after what You-Know-Who did to him eleven years ago."

"What happened?" asked Hallie curiously. Harry told her how Lord Voldemort killed his parents and tried to kill him, but failed. "Man, you had a rough life, didn't you? Well, at least you're still alive. Sorry about your parents, though."

"It's fine," said Harry wiping a tear from her cheek. "He wasn't expecting it and I didn't find out till last year when Hagrid told me. He's he keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Hallie blushed as his fingertip touched her cheek. "I survived with this." He lifted his bangs to show his lightning-bolt shaped scar.

"Man, that's a weird shape for a scar," said Hallie. "Well, like I said, at least you're alive, right?" Harry nodded and smiled at her. _'His eyes are so cute!' _thought Hallie. She had a burning impulse to tell him her feelings, but couldn't without making a fool of herself.

"Uh-oh, it looks like Ginny's got comeptition," said George. Hallie shot a glare at him and made a movement with her hand across her neck telling him to say no more. "Oh, so you don't want me to tell him that you-?"

"Shut up, George," Annie said quietly. "She'll tell him when she wants to!"

"Tell me what?" asked Harry. Nobody said anything, but Harry was determined. "Come on! What's the big secret?" Ginny Weasley came down at this moment looking for her jumper. She saw Harry, took a few steps back and ran upstairs again. "What did I do?"

"That's Ginny, said Ron. "She's been quiet all summer. Never shuts up normally." Harry nodded and looked at Hallie. "Hey, Harry, why don't we go up to my room so we can talk for a moment, eh?"

"Ron, if you tell him, I swear I will make your life a living hell!" Hallie warned as she walked upstairs. Ron gave a weak smile and followed her. "I'm not joking either!"

"Okay I won't tell him," said Ron as they went upstairs to his room. Locking the door, he turned to Harry. "Harry, I can only tell you one thing, and that's to ask what the deal is yourself tomorrow. I can't say anything except for that, got it?"

"Okay, but why can't you?"

"I'm not going to let her make my life a living hell, when it already is!" Ron exclaimed. "You heard what she said, and by the looks of her, she'll do worse than Malfoy ever could."


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

Harry went back downstairs to the kitchen and sat down for lunch. After a while of talking with the girls, Ginny stayed up in her room for most of the day, Fred, George, Ron and Percy, Mr. Weasley came in. "Morning, Weasleys!" he announced. "Nine raids today. Nine!" Harry remembered what Ron said about his dad working in the Ministry of Magic. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Harry said holding out his hand.

"Are you really? When did he get here?" asked Mr. Weasley curiously. Hallie and Annie exchanged a look and tucked into their lunch.

"Your sons went flew that car of yours to Surrey and back last night. Not to mention, they got the girls as well." Mrs. Weasley said holding a spatula.

"Did you really? How did it go?" asked Mr. Weasley proudly. His wife smacked him on the shoulder and he changed his attitude about it. "That was wrong boys, very wrong indeed." Ron grinned. "So, girls, how did you like the flight?"

"Well, being the first time flying in a car, it was good," said Hallie. "The only time I ever flew was to camp, but that was in an airplane."

"Ah, that's interesting." Mr. Weasley said interestedly. "Honestly, it's curious how Muggles can survive without magic! Anyway, I'm glad you got here safely. Annie, the last time your mother sent a picture of you, you had longer hair, who cut it?"

"That would be Hallie's doing, thanks," said Annie, "The night before camp ended, which was yesterday, Hallie had this brilliant plan of switching places on our parents, but Ron, Fred and George came over and brought us here."

"Well, you look gorgeous," said Mrs. Weasley making Annie smile and blush a little. "I see you got your ears pierced? Did your sister do that, too?" Annie nodded. "As I said, you look gorgeous." George explained that Hallie's dad didn't know she was at the Burrow. "Oh, dear! Arthur, send Erroll to Nick explaining where Hallie's at so he doesn't get too worried. If nothing else, Apparate there and explain what's going on." Mr. Weasley nodded and left.

Mr. Weasley came back nearly two hours later with a small smile. Mrs. Weasley asked what had happened and he told her and the others. "Well, Mr. Parker wasn't too happy with this, but he said that he was at least proud of his daughter at meeting her family." he said sitting down. "Your dog, Sammy, really likes me, by the way. He bit my right on my ass, and I have teeth marks to prove it."

"Oh, sorry!" said Hallie. She looked sincerely sorry about the bite. "Sammy doesn't know you, so he'll try and protect my dad and Chessy."

"Yes, well, at least Chessy was nicer. She actually served me some cornbread and chili, and gave me the recipe for it." said Mr. Weasley handing over a small piece of paper. "It's not that hard to make, it seems, so Molly can make it for dinner tonight." As they were sitting down, A small owl screeched and hit the window.

"Oh, that'll be Erroll with the post," said Mrs. Weasley. "Percy, could you fetch him?" Percy got up and grabbed eight letters from Hogwarts and announced them. "There's two for Hallie and Annie!"

"Never misses a trick, that man," said Mr. Weasley. "That's unusual. Normally when Muggleborns find out they are witches or wizards, Hogwarts teachers usually come to to tell them."

"Yeah, Hagrid did last year," said Harry thoughtfully. "I was thinking that maybe Professor McGonagall or Snape would come to tell you girls." Shrugging, he read his letter. "Wow, most of these books are coming from Gilderoy Lockhart. Something must be up if we're getting a whole set of his books."

Fred read his list and frowned. "Mum, this lot won't come cheap. Looks really expensive."

"We'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley looking at everyone. "There's only one place to get these, and that's Diagon Alley. Hallie, Annie, you can go with Harry and Ron to get your wand, potion ingredients, books and robes. Fred and George can do what they want, and Ginny will go with Arthur and I."

"If you want, I'll buy your wands for you," said Harry as they all stood in line by the fireplace. Both girls gave him a quick hug as Mrs. Weasley handed them all a handful of sparkling powder. "What do I do with this?" Ron went first, stepped into the fireplace, yelled 'Diagon Alley!' and threw down the powder and vanished. Harry, Hallie and Annie did the same, one at a time and landed on a stone floor. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I'm really scared now," said Annie looking around. "You have to remember we have never gone to Diagon Alley, and I'm sure this is not it." Harry shook his head and looked at his glasses. He tried to remember the spell Hermione Granger used, but couldn't so he put his glasses back on.

"Are you okay, Harry?" asked Hallie helping him up. Harry grunted as they got up, looked out the window and dragged the girls into a closet. "What?"

"That's Draco Malfoy and the man with him has to be his father!" Harry whispered. Sure enough, Draco Malfoy and a man walked in with a box and tried to sell it to the owner. Malfoy was coming to their cabinet and was about to open it when Mr. Malfoy's walking stick hit the door.

"What did I say?" he hissed. Draco repeated what his father said when they walked in. "Exactly. Come! We have more shopping to do. Mr. Borgin, you can keep the box, and I assure you, I shall return later with more of my-er-items." Mr. Borgin bowed deeply and went into the back of the shop to put the items away.

As the Malfoys left, Harry led the girls to the door, barely managing to escape Mr. Borgin, and went out onto a dark street. "Knockturn Alley? This is not good," said Annie. "God, what are we going to do?"

"Harry?" boomed a gruff voice. All three looked around and saw the sillhouette of Rubeus Hagrid, the man Harry mentioned at the Burrow. "What are yeh doin' out here in Knockturn Alley? Dodgy place, yeh know."

"Yeah, I figured that," said Harry as Hagrid led him and the girls out of Knockturn Alley. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? I'm here ter find some Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellant," said Hagrid holding up a large metal can. "Ah, I see yeh met Hallie and Annie. I was supposed to fetch them at camp, but Dumbledore told me that the Weasleys already did."

"Oh, yeah, they did," said Hallie. "Um, could you please show us where Ollivander's is?" Hagrid nodded and led them to Ollivander's Wand Shop. "Thank you. Harry's going to help us out with what we need."

"Yeh should go to Gringotts first," said Hagrid. "Yer money's in there, right?" Harry said he had enough to last for half the year, and Hagrid nodded. "Well, if yeh'll be fine here, I'll leave yeh to yer shoppin'. Bye!" Harry and the girls waved and found Hermione Granger running up to them.

"Harry!" she yelled engulfing him in a hug that made Hallie jealous beyond comparison. "How are you? What happened to your glasses?" Harry stammered to answer, but couldn't, so Hermione pulled out her wand and said, _"Occulus Reparo!"_ and instantly repaired his glasses.

"I'll definitely have to remember that one," said Harry replacing his glasses on his face. "Um, Hermione, these are Ron's cousins, Hallie Parker, and Annie James." Hermione shook their hand, which Hallie reluctantly agreed to do. "I'm taking them to get their wands, and then to King's Cross with the Weasleys."

"How about I accompany you guys?" asked Hermione excitedly. "Did you get their other supplies yet?" Harry and the girls shook their heads. "Perfect! We can go together!" Hallie groaned. "Something wrong, Hallie?"

"Oh, of course not," said Hallie trying to sound happy about this arrangement. "Accompany us if you want." Hermione looked skeptical, but didn't say anything, and tagged along to the Apothecary, Ollivander's, Eeylops' Owl Emporium, and Flourish and Blotts.

After hitting the Apothecary and getting their potion ingredients needed, Harry took the girls to Ollivander's Wand Shop. "Mr. Ollivander, nice to see you again!" said Harry shaking the man's hand. "My wand's working fine, I just have two girls that need to get their wands."

"Ah, a couple first years, eh?" said Mr. Ollivander eyeing the girls knowingly. "Well, let's see...a pair of twins, so I'm guessing you don't want twin cores?"

"Honestly, sir, it doesn't matter to us whether we have twin cores or not," said Annie. "As long as the wand is right for us and we are right for it." Mr. Ollivander told her that she would do well studying wand lore after Hogwarts. "Thank you, sir, but I'm only going to first year. I don't even know what occupation I'll be persuing in six years."

"Well, let's find your wands, shall we?" said Mr. Ollivander nodding. He went to the back of the shop and picked out a few boxes. "Now remember, you two, the wand chooses the wizard or witch, and you get which one chooses you. Miss Parker, you will start off." Mr. Ollivander handed Hallie a willow and unicorn hair wand, twelve inches and she waved it. Apparently this was not her wand because when she waved it, the spell it shot off hit Harry in the head making him sway slightly. "No, no and definitely not. Try this one. It is a cherry and dragon heart-string, eleven inches."

Nearly two wands later, Hallie got hers: holly and Thestral hair measuring at ten and a half inches. Three wands later, Annie got hers which was oak and dragon heart-string and measuring eleven and one-quarter inches. "Very good, girls," said Harry hugging them both making them blush, but not as much as Hallie who blushed as red as her hair. "Uh, sorry if I made you two blush, but you girls are the best things that happened to me."

Hallie and Annie smiled and said in unison, "You're the best that happaned to us, too, Harry." Hermione gave a giggle and led them to Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy the girls' owls. Hallie bought a brown owl and named it Brownie, while Annie found a tawny owl and named it Glider. They also bought treats for them and Hedwig, and then went to Flourish and Blotts to get their books.

"Okay, so we got your potion ingredients, robes, owls, and wands. All we need is your books, and we're off to King's Cross Station for the Hogwarts Express. Hermione, are you okay?" said Harry. He asked this question because Hermione was thinking deeply. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him.

"Yes, fine," she said hesitantly. "I was just thinking about all the books we need. I have enough for them, but they're mostly Lockhart's books." Harry nodded and held the door for her and the girls, who thanked him and walked in. "Hmm, I memorized the list, and we need _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot, _The Standard Book of Spells: Grade One and Two_ by Miranda Goshawk, and all of these books by Lockhart. That's going to cost a bit."

"I honestly don't think that's what you were thinking about, Hermione," said Annie picking up the books she and Hallie needed. "Blimey, a Sickle each for these books? Lochart's are more expensive. At least two Galleons!" Harry told her that he'd pay for them himself along with his books. "Harry, you're so sweet, but you don't have to do that."

"It's fine, really." Harry said looking her in the eyes. "I want to do this because that's the guy I am. I'm not like Malfoy who has money but doesn't help others." Hallie gave him a very loving look that both Ginny and Hermione noticed. Ginny scowled and looked away. "Anyway, if this Lockhart guy is as big-headed as I think he is, I'll probably be in tomorrow's issue of _The Daily Prophet._"

"Thank you all for coming!" said Lockhart as Harry and the girls stood in line by Mrs. Weasley to get their books signed. "Good Lord, is that Harry Potter?" The photographer grabbed Harry by the arm and slid him behind the table by Lockhart. "Ladies and gentlemen, when Mr. Potter came in here, not only was he coming in here to buy my autobiography, but he is now getting the complete set along with tthat book free of charge!" The rest of the group in the book shop applauded Harry as he got his picture taken and was handed a large pile of books. Harry handed them to Mrs. Weasley to get signed and went to the front of the shop toward the door only to see Draco Malfoy coming down the stairs.

"Well, well, if it isn't Harry Potter!" said Malfoy stopping at the foot of the stairs. "Famous Harry Potter can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." Hallie was getting angrier by the minute, and Harry now understood why she and Annie were related to the Weasleys.

"Leave him alone, you slimy git!" Hallie growled glaring at Draco Malfoy. "If you don't you won't just have me, but you'll have my twin to deal with and she's much worse."

"Look, Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend," sneered Malfoy. "Look, girl, I'm not one to be reckoned with, so you better back off, you filthy Mudblood!" Harry heard that word and almost drew his wand, but stopped as Draco's father came up.

"Draco, play nicely," he said patting his son on the shoulder. "Mr. Potter, I'm Lucius Malfoy. Forgive me." Lucius used the handle of his walking stick to pull back Harry's bangs. "Your scar is legend, as is the wizard who gave it to you."

"Voldemort killed my parents." Harry said angrily. "He's nothing but a murderer." Mr. Malfoy stepped back, looking Harry up and down. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be late for the train."

"Not so fast, Mr. Potter," said Lucius looking at Hallie and Annie closely. "Ah, let me see...red hair, anxious expressions, you must be related to the Weasleys." Hallie said she was proud to be related to them and nothing would change that. "So you have pride in being related to blood traitors, I see?"

"Sir, I wouldn't mess with Hallie," said Hermione. "She's not one to be messed with and, dare I say it, she might use magic on you once she knows the right spells." Draco started to laugh at this comment, but stopped when Lucius held up his hand.

"Yes, Draco told me about you, Miss Granger," said Lucius, "and your parents. Muggles, aren't they? Ah, Weasley Senior. Things must be busy at the Ministry with all those raids. I hope they're paying you dearly for it?" He looked at Mr. Weasley's robes and Ginny's books. "Judging by the state of these books, I say not. Dear, dear. What is the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard when you don't pay well for it?"

"We have a different view of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," said Mr. Weasley waspishly. "Come on, every one, we better be going to King's Cross if we're going to make it to the train on time."

"Well, I will see you at work, Arthur," said Mr. Malfoy coldly. "As well, I think Draco will see Mr. Potter and his comrades at school. Good day."

The trip to King's Cross Station was not very enjoyable as Hallie and Annie were still angry with Draco Malfoy's words and the last word he said. After parking the car and heading toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Hallie, Annie, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, and Percy all went through the barrier. Harry and Ron ran at the barrier seconds after they did and crashed. "Why can't we get through?" hissed Harry angrily. Ron hit the brick barrier with his fist. It was solid. "That's not good. Maybe we should wait by the car until your parents get back."

"The car?" said Ron. Harry stopped in his tracks as he walked toward it and turned to face him. "Harry, we could fly the car to Hogwarts. Mum and Dad know how to Apparate home, you know, vanish and reappear at home."

"Ron, this is insane," said Harry looking his friend in the eye. "Flying a car to Hogwarts is an all-time low for us. It could get us into trouble, possibly expelled!"

"Harry, we have to get to school, and even underage wizards are allowed to use magic in certain situations. It's wizard law!" Harry pondered this and agreed finally. "Good, so let's go to the car and we can get to Hogwarts!"

As they got into the car and hovered above the street, Harry said, "Ron, most Muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a flying car."

"Uh, right," said Ron jabbing the Invisibility Booster. "We'll be invisible so none of them can see us." Harry nodded and the car became invisible after a few seconds. "Okay, so all we have to do is watch for the train, and we'll follow it to Hogwarts."

After watching for the train for two hours, Harry started to doze off until he heard a whistle close by. Ron suggested that they were close to the train and had Harry look out the window. The tracks were there, but the train was nowhere to be seen, at least until he and Ron looked behind them and swerved off to the right. Harry's door opened and he was hanging by one hand on the door jam. "Harry! Grab my hand!"

"I'm trying, but you're hand is all sweaty!" said Harry finally grabbing onto his hand. "I think we found the train." Ron nodded. "Okay, so let's just be a few feet behind and above from now on, right?"

"Yeah!" said Ron. "At least we know it's nearby and we can follow it." He slowed the car down a bit so they could follow close behind and had to fly over the mountains so they could reach Hogwarts. "There's the castle! We're really close now!"


	3. Chapter 3

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 3: A Violent Tree and Angry Girl

Ron wasn't wrong about being near the castle. They flew past the ramparts, turrets and the boat house, but as they reached the main grounds, the car started to shudder and whine and smoke came from the hood. "Oh, bloody hell!" Ron cursed. "Come on, we can do this!" The engine's whine grew louder for a moment and died completely. Harry held on as the car plummeted down and landed roughly on a tree, which happened to have large fist-like knots for branches. Ron rapped his wand on the dashboard hoping it would help start the car, but his wand snapped as the tree branches hit the roof, doors and hood of the car. "My wand! Look at my wand!"

"Be thankful it wasn't your neck, Ron," said Harry shakily. He gasped as the tree started to shake, making the car fall down onto the ground. "Are you okay?" Ron nodded and tried to start the car again, but it decided to literally throw them out of their seats along with Hedwig and Scabbers in the back seat and their luggage in the trunk. After doing this, it roared to life and drove off into the Forbidden Forest.

"Dad's going to kill me!" said Ron as they picked up their luggage and pets and walked toward the boat house entrance. They placed their luggage near the doors and went up a couple more stairs to see Mr. Argus Filch, the castle caretaker, and gasped.

"Oh, dear, we are in trouble," said Filch with a nasty grin. "Come with me, you brats. Professor Snape wants to talk with you two." Harry and Ron sadly followed him to the Potion Master's office and sat down. "Professor, Mr. Potter and Weasley are here."

"Thank you, Argus," said Snape. "You are dismissed." He shut the door and rounded on them. "You were seen by seven Muggles!" Harry jumped at his tone. "You have shattered the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and in the process, injuring a very old Whomping Willow tree that was planted before you were born!" Ron mentioned that the tree did more damage to Harry and himself, but Snape hissed, "Silence! Now, were you in Slytherin, you would be on the train home...tonight! As it is..."

"They are not!" said a deep voice from the door. "Professor McGonagall is the one to decide their punishments, and I'm sure Miss Parker and Miss James have a few choice words that they would like to use." Harry gulped as he thought of the punishment he'd receive from Hallie and Annie both. Professor McGonagall said that both of them would get detention and sent them off to the common room.

As soon as Harry and Ron got through the portrait hole that led to the common room, Harry had an impulse to turn around and go to the headmaster's office, but the hole was blocked by Hermione. Turning toward the dormitory stairs, he saw Hallie, red-faced and angry. "Harry Potter, how dare you fly a car to Hogwarts! You worried me!" Harry tried to apologize, but she stopped him. "If I were you, I would really think twice the next time you plan on doing something so stupid!"

"Hallie, I'm sorry for flying a car, but I already have detention!" Harry said talking over her. Hallie glared at him and looked as if she'd hit him. "Look, I wanted to wait by the car, but Ron mentioned that we should fly it to Hogwarts, and I was desperate to get here, so we flew it." Hallie turned to Ron and rounded on him.

"So this was your bright idea?" she shrieked. Ron backed into a chair and sat down cringing. "If I knew any spells that would work on you in this situation, I'd whip my wand out and us them, but seeing that I don't know any yet, you're safe but not off the hook, Ronald Weasley! Annie, do you have something to say to them?"

"Yes, and it's not very pretty," said Annie just as angrily. "Now, as Hallie said, you two are not going to hear the end of this until a sustancial punishment is ordered. I don't think detention will work at this moment, but I'm not a Prefect, Head-Girl or teacher, so I can't hand them out. If you ever do this again, I will be writing to Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur, the Dursleys, though they are the most hostile Muggles I have ever heard about, and even our parents!"

"Girls, you don't have to do all that," said Harry hastily. "What happened to being the best thing that ever happened to you?"

"You still are, but your chances of dating one of us are very slim right now!" said Hallie. Everyone including Harry, Ron and Hermione stared at her. "Um, that wasn't supposed to be said out loud, but it had to be said."

"Dating one of you?" said Ron. "I'm family! If we start dating, that would be mad!"

"Not you!" yelled Hallie shooting a cold glare at Ron. "I was talking about...never mind." Harry got the hint, but said nothing. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is...you two shouldn't have even flew that car, and I won't be surprised if Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur send a Howler." Giving Harry a glare and smile, she said, "I'm going to bed, and you better have a good apology tomorrow morning." With that being said, she and Annie stormed toward the girls' dormitory and slammed the door.

"Um, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," said Harry looking at Ron. "I was expecting to get hit with something or have something thrown at me from across the room, but yelling like that wasn't too bad." Ron grimaced and gestured that they should go to bed. "Right. Let's hope the girls are in a better mood tomorrow." Once they got into the boys' dormitory, Harry had to confess something. "Ron, I need you to promise that you won't repeat this to anyone, well, you can tell Annie, but I think she already knows."

"Sure, what's on your mind?" said Ron sincerely. "I can keep a secret, you know that."

"What I'm going to tell you is something that you might already know and never told me you knew, or it could come as a great shock." Harry sighed. "I think I'm falling in love with Hallie. I can't explain it. I'm near her all the time, and her personality, looks and everything else just scream, 'take me, I'm yours'."

"Okay, that I didn't know, but I will keep that a secret," said Ron confidently. "Could I at least tell Hermione? If I tell her not to tell Hallie about it, I'm sure she'll do it."

"Ron, girls gossip all the time, and knowing Hermione, she'll tell Hallie the second after you tell her." Ron thought about this, and shrugged. "Tell her if you want, but if I hear Hallie telling someone about this and it gets to Lochart's ears that I'm falling in love at eleven, he'll probably be after me on it." Harry said without hesitation. "Now, it's up to you. The consequences aren't too bad for you, but for me, it means a whole bunch of good and bad publicity."

"Right, well, I'll make sure Hallie doesn't hear a word, all right? If she does, well, you know." said Ron. Harry nodded and went to sleep. "Well, Ron, what are you going to do?" he asked himself. "You can tell Hermione and risk Harry being the Boy-Who-Lived into the Boy-Who-Loved, or you can keep your mouth shut." In the end, he decided to tell someone he trusted, and that was Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, in the morning.

The next morning, Harry woke up to wolf-whistles, claps on the shoulders and back and a bit of a ruckus. "What did you tell them, Ron?" he asked as he approached Ron in the common room. "What is going on with them?"

"You told me I had a choice to tell Hermione or not, so I chose to tell Seamus, Dean and Neville." Ron explained with a shrug. "No harm in that, is there? Neither of them would even speak to Hallie or Annie after hearing them yell last night, so they promised that no word would be said." Hermione came down after hearing her name mentioned and Ron whipped around. "Hi, Hermione, you're not sore about last night, are you?"

"No, Ron, I'm not," said Hermione sitting down on a comfortable armchair. "Actually, I was last night after hearing what you did, but after hearing Annie and Hallie yell at you, I decided to keep my mouth shut, seeing as you already had your heads bitten off twice." Harry groaned. "Also, Harry, did you come up with a good apology like Hallie told you?"

"Yes, but it's not exactly verbal," said Harry with a sly grin. "If she starts to yell, I'm not going to hesitate and just kiss her until she shuts up. I know she likes me, and I feel the same way about her, so that's my plan."

"Are you mad?" whispered Hermione in surprise. "Harry, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, she wanted an _apology_, not a kissing contest!" Harry shushed her as Hallie and Annie approached them. "Hi, girls! Good morning!"

"Morning, Hermione," said Hallie beaming at her. When her eyes turned to Harry, her expression turned cold. "Well, Harry, I'm waiting for that apology." Hermione looked at him and shook her head, but he just winked. "Harry Potter, if you don't give me an apology right now, you are going to-" Hallie's words were interrupted as Harry rolled his eyes and lifted her into the air while kissing her. "Whoa! That was totally unexpected." she said after the kiss broke. "Um, apology accepted."

"Yeah, I'll go with that for now," said Annie in surprise at Harry's unexpected use of his mouth. "Uh, Hallie, we better go to Potions with Snape this morning before he gets angry, eh?" Hallie nodded while wiping her lips. "Are you oky?"

"Yeah, I'm good," said Hallie a little oddly. "So, Harry apologized and I think I have something for him, too. If you need me, I'll be in the library after class looking for something."

Hermione beamed at her at this news and asked, "What are you looking for, may I ask?"

"Just something that would surprise Harry and make him feel like he's a normal guy for once in his life," said Hallie winking, "and I'm sure I can ask Madam Pince for something in that area."

Harry went down to Defense Against the Dark Arts feeling happy for himself and sat down, not thinking that the man who was coming out of the teacher's office would be the man that would make his year miserable as possible. "Me!" yelled Gilderoy Lockhart as he descended the staircase from the office. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin First Class, and winner of _Witch Weekly's_ Most Charming Smile Award, but I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her." He laughed and stopped when nobody else did. "I see you bought a complete set of my works, well done. Now, let's start off with a little quiz. Nothing strenuous, just to see how much you've taken in."

Harry and Ron stared at the paper that was passed to them. All of the questions on the quiz were about Lockhart. "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?" he muttered glancing at Ron, who looked completely revolted at the questions. "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's most celebrated achievement to date?"

"You have a half hour!" said Lockhart sitting down. "Start!" The class started on their quizzes and the only sounds were the scratching of quills and dipping quills in ink bottles. The half hour finally ended and Lockhart was going over all of the quizzes. "Tut, tut," he said. "Not one of you knew that my favorite color is lilac, but Miss Hermione Granger was right in her answer to question six. Yes, it is my ambition to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions. Full marks." Hermione blushed as he winked at her and brought out a cage covered in a red tartan blanket. "Now, on to work! In this cage, I have something most sinister. I ask you not to scream, for it would provoke them!" Lockhart took of the blanket covering the cage to reveal a swarm of blue creatures.

Seamus Finnigan laughed at the cage. "Cornish Pixies?" he said laughing with Dean Thomas.

"Freshly caught Cornish Pixies, Mr. Finnigan! Now, let's see what you make of them!" Lockhart said opening the cage. The pixies flew out and caused a whole bunch of chaos in the classroom. Whipping ot his wand, Lockhart yelled, _"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"_ but nothing happened except one of the pixies picked up his wand and made the dragon skeleton hanging from the ceiling collapse to the floor when it tapped the chain holding it. "I'll just as you three to nip them back into their cages, then."

Hermione, being the smartest, drew her wand and yelled, _"Immobilus!"_ All of the pixies went still in midair and Neville, from above, asked why he was the one to get into these messes. "Okay, let's get them into the cage, and we'll do something about Neville." Raising her wand again, she used the Levitation Charm on him and softly set him on the ground again, then pointed her wand at the cage and moving it around the room to catch the little pixies in it. Closing the cage, she rapped on the office door saying, "Professor, all the pixies are in their cage again!"

"Thank you, Miss Granger." Lockhart said opening the door long enough to see his face. "Class dismissed."

Hermione smiled as she, Harry and Ron neared the Great Hall. She remembered that Hallie had a surprise for Harry, and was very interested to find out what it was. Upon opening the Hall's doors, she realized that the surprise must be in the common room, but didn't have time to go back before class. "Hallie, what did you find?" she asked finding Hallie sitting next to Seamus. Hallie smiled and whispered in her ear. "Oh, so that's what you had in mind? A way to get Harry to reveal his feelings for you?"

"Yeah, I talked to Professor Snape, and when he learned what I was planning, he was more than happy to assist me!" Hallie explained as she reached into her bag and bringiing out a small bottle. "He gave me this. It's called Veritaserum, an odorless, colorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth. I'll give Harry a glass of water after classes today and I'll slip a couple drops of this into it, and I'll ask him how he feels about me. Unfortunately, Snape didn't tell me how long this potion lasts, and I don't want to know his fantasies about me."

"Well, I read about Veritaserum, and with two drops, it usually lasts about two minutes," said Hermione thoughtfully, "but if I have to, I can always whip up an antidote in case it goes on longer than that." Hallie gave her a quick hug and sat down to talk with Annie about her latest scheme. "Oh, Harry, you are in for it now!" muttered Hermione with a grin.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, whom Hermione didn't realize was right behind her when saying this. She stammered for a moment and then told him that he'd find out later. "Hermione, is Hallie up to something?"

"Well, yes, but I can't tell you what it is, or the surprise will be ruined," said Hermione firmly. "Now, sit and eat so we can go to class." Harry sat down obediently and looked at Ron for answers. After all, Hallie and Annie were _his _cousins, and they acted so much like Fred and George, but Ron merely shrugged. Harry sighed and started to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 4: Surprises and Voices

After a whole day's worth of class, Harry grew thirsty and couldn't wait for a glass of water in the common room. From what Hermione had said, Hallie had a trick up her sleeve, and he was in for a bit of trouble whether he liked it or not. As Harry walked into the common room, he saw Hallie holding a glass of water and holding it out for him to take. "Sit and take a drink," she said smiling. "You must be really thirsty after such a long day." Harry sat down, took the glass and gulped it down. "Now, do you mind if I ask you a question?" He shook his head and waited for it. "What do you think about me?"

"I think you are the most amazing, beautiful and charming girl I've ever met in my entire life," said Harry truthfully. He clapped a hand to his mouth and stared at the glass he just drank out of. "What did you just do to me?"

"I'll answer that question after you answer my next one," said Hallie. "What did you say to Ron last night before you fell asleep?" Harry tried not to open his mouth, but he did anyway and the words he feared to say gushed out.

"I told him that I think I'm falling in love with you." he said again clapping his hand to his mouth. "I really do. If you feel the same way, then brilliant." Hallie blushed and turned away. "Now please answer my question."

"Okay, okay. I wanted to know how you felt about me to see if I felt the same way, so I talked to Professor Snape, and since he doesn't like you much, he was more than happy to help and he gave me a bottle of Veritaserum, a potion to make people tell the truth." Hallie explained. "Now that I know that you're in love with me, I'm not afraid to say that I'm in love with you, too." Harry couldn't believe that she'd stoop that low, but seeing as she was the cousin of a pair of pranksters, he expected no less.

"Well, that was a bit wacky on your account, but next time, if you want to know my feelings, just ask!" Harry told her. He saw Ginny silently crying in an armchair nearby and walked over to her. "What's wrong, Ginny?"

"I-I can't say it," said Ginny between sobs. "It's t-t-too embarrassing." Harry put an arm around her shoulder and she buried her head in his chest. "That helped a bit, so now I can say it." Ginny got up and walked over to Hallie. Taking a deep breath, she said, "You're my cousin, and you should know that I love Harry just as much as you do, but since you want a romantic relationship, I'm okay with it."

"Okay, that makes no sense in any way...oh, Ginny, I didn't know that you..." Hallie began. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I really didn't know!" Ginny let it go and sat down. Ron looked at her and then at Hallie in confusion. "She was in love with Harry, too, Ron. In fact, I think she still is, but I'd rather not find that out right now."

"So, there are two girls that are in love with me, and they're from the same family?" said Harry. "Blimey, am I that famous or am I that good-looking?"

"Both, actually," said Annie from behind. "See, Hallie told me after meeting you that she would do anything to date you. Unfortunately, when Ginny wanted to say her feelings, she was so nervous around you, she just sort of ran off all the time." Harry understood it, but was really feeling sorry for Ginny and walked over to her. "Harry, what are you doing?"

"Something that might make her feel better," said Harry looking at Hallie apologetically. "Ginny, I know this isn't going to help your situation, and I love you, as well, so I hope you hold this deep in your heart." Ginny looked up and opened her mouth slightly as he kissed her. When the kiss broke, she blushed as red as her hair. "I hope it helped."

"Harry, that was sweet," said Ginny hugging him. "It didn't help the fact that I love you more than the world itself, but it did help me realize that there's still the chance that I'll be your cousin if you two get married." Harry patted her on the back and looked at Hallie, who was smiling. "Hal, he's a great kisser, so you're lucky to have him."

"Harry, don't you have Quidditch practice today?" said Hallie hugging her cousin briefly. Harry gasped and ran out the portrait hole at breakneck speed. "Well, shall we follow him or are we going to sit here doing nothing all day?" Ron, Hermione and the twins followed Harry and the rest of the Quidditch team through the Transfiguration Courtyard to see the Slytherin team talking with Oliver Wood. "What's wrong?"

Wood took the note that Marcus Flint showed him and read, "_I, Severus Snape, give the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to use the pitch due to the need to train their new Seeker._" Wood looked up from the note and said, "You have a new Seeker? Who?" Draco Malfoy stepped forward.

"Malfoy?" said Harry in complete surprise. Malfoy smirked at the look on Harry's face.

"That's right, Potter, I'm the new Slytherin Seeker." he said looking at the newcomers. "Also, I want to show you the gift that my father gave the team." All seven team members held out their brooms: Nimbus Two-Thousand and Ones.

Hermione decided to speak up. "At least nobody on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," she said angrily. "They got in on pure talent." Malfoy glared at her.

"Nobody asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood!" he sneered. The word caused a bit of ruckus from the Gryffindor team, and Ron tried to curse Malfoy with his broken wand, which resulted in him belching up slugs.

"Come on," said Harry supporting Ron by the shoulders. "Let's get you to Hagrid's. It's closer." Hallie, Annie and Hermione followed him to Hagrid's with Ron belching up slugs every two seconds. Once they got into Hagrid's hut, Hallie helped Ron to sit down.

"Here yeh go," said Hagrid setting a large bucket in front of Ron, "that's me best remedy for something like that. Who did he try ter curse anyway?"

"Malfoy," said Annie angrily. "He called Hermione...well, I'm not sure what it means, exactly."

Hermione wiped a tear from her eyes and said, "He called me 'Mudblood'."

"He did not?" gasped Hagrid. "That's the foulest name a person could be called!" Harry asked what it meant.

"Mudblood is a foul term not normally heard in a civil conversation. It's a name to describe someone with non-magical parents. Someone like me."

"Yeh see, Malfoy and his family are what a lot of wizards call pure-blood," said Hagrid in disgust. "To them, all Muggle-born witches are supposed to have dirty blood." He put a hand on Hermione's and brought her closer to him. "Now yeh listen, alright? I've known yeh for a year and yer the smartest Muggle-born witch I've ever had the pleasure of meetin'. There's not a spell our Hermione can't do, so don't yeh think on it. Don't think on it one minute."

"So, what do we do about Ron?" asked Hallie trying not to look at the slugs coming out of her cousin's mouth. "Should we wait until it stops or is there another way we can stop it?"

"No, we'll have ter wait until it stops, I'm afraid," said Hagrid watching Ron carefully. "Give it another twenty minutes, and it'll slow down."

As the five kids walked back to the castle, they met Professor McGonagall. "Ah, Potter, I was hoping to speak with you and Mr. Weasley," she said leading them into a corridor. "Both of you will be doing your detentions tonight at eight o'clock precisely. Weasley, you will be helping Mr. Filch polish the trophy room. Potter, you will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan-mail." Harry tried asking if Ron and him could switch, but she said no. "Professor Lockhart specifically asked for you!"

"Okay, Professor, I'll do it," said Harry with a sigh. "Thank you for telling me." Turning to Hallie, he said, "I can't believe I'm with Lockhart for detention! That'll be horrible, answering his fan-mail." Hallie told him to do what he had to and they'd meet up with him later. "Well, I'll have to endure it, I guess. Anyway, I better get ready for it."

"Well, Harry, come in and take a seat. I would like you to address the envelopes like this one here. This one goes to Gladys Gudgeon in Devon, England." Harry addressed the envelopes, but stopped when heard something. It sounded very odd to him.

_"Let me rip you...let me tear you...let me kill you!"_ the voice said in a snarl.

"What?" Harry whispered. Lockhart looked up and asked what he meant. "Didn't you hear it? The voice?"

"Voice? What voice?" asked Lockhart staring at Harry, then the clock. "Great Scott! We've been here for nearly four hours. No wonder you're acting like this. You can go now, and I must ask you not to do anything like you just did again, all right?" Harry nodded and ran out into the corridor to see Ron, Hermione, Hallie and Annie running toward him.

"Harry, we were getting worried!" said Hermione stopping in front of him. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I see ghosts all the time, Hermione, remember?" Harry said a little too harshly. "I heard a voice." Putting his ear up to the wall, he heard it again. "I think it's going to kill!" Hallie gasped and ran after him, Ron, Hermione and Annie at their heelse. "It stopped right here! Hang on-what's going-oh no!" Hermione gasped as they looked at the floor. _"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir beware."_ he read. Next to the message was Mrs. Norris, Mr. Filch's cat, tied to a torch bracket by her tail. "Mrs. Norris!"

A whole crowd of students flooded into the corridor and gasped. Madam Pomfrey, Professor Sprout and McGonagall clutching their chests. Argus Filch came up and saw his cat. "Mrs. Norris? You-you murdered my cat!" he said grabbing Harry's robe collar. "I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"He didn't do it!" yelled Hallie angrily. Her eyes swam with tears as she said it. "We just found him coming out of Lockhart's office and came down here!"

"Argus!" said Professor Dumbledore. Filch looked around. "Mrs. Norris is not dead. She has been Petrified." Lockhart said that he knew the counter-curse but wished he was there to do it. "Madam Sprout has some Mandrakes that are maturing, and they will be ready for stewing soon. I'm sure she can whip up a bit of a potion to revive her."

Snape decided to have his say. "Perhaps Potter and his friends were simply in the right place at the wrong time?" he said looking at Harry. "However, I do not remember seeing Potter at dinner." Lockhart told him that Harry was serving detention with him. "Be that as it may, but why not come down to eat afterwards?"

"Well, that's why we went to get him," said Annie nervously looking at Dumbledore. "We found him when he said-" Snape looked at her and asked her to finish. "Uh...he said..."

"I said I wasn't hungry." Harry piped up. "I was tired and I wanted to get to my dormitory so I could sleep." Snape turned to Dumbledore who shrugged.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said smiling. "All of you may go back to your activities, and I mean all of you."

"My cat has been Petrified," said Mr. Filch shakily. "I want to see some punishment!" Harry and the others were ushered to their common rooms after a while and, while there, decided to go to bed.

The next morning, Harry awoke to Hallie's voice calling him from the common room. Running down to see what the matter was, he found a sign on the notice board announcing the start of a Dueling Club. "This might be interesting," said Harry. "It starts tonight, so I guess we better check it out." Later on, after all classes had been done, all students went to the Great Hall to find out what the Dueling Club was about.

"Can you all see me?" yelled Lockhart excitedly. "Can you all hear me? Excelllent. Professor Dumbledore has given permission to start this Dueling Club so you can defend yourself against opponents and anything that might want to hurt you." Ron stifled a snicker as Lockhart spoke. "Professor Snape has kindly agreed to assist me in a brief demonstration of a proper wizard's duel." The two bowed, put their wands up and walked toward the end of the arena. "Now, on the count of three, we will cast our spells. One...two...three!"

"_Expelliarmus!"_ shouted Snape. He flourished his wand and a blaze of golden light hit Lockhart, lifting him off his feet and landing on the ground.

"Yes, well, it was pretty obvious what you were going to do, Professor," said Lockhart as he got up from the floor. "I could have blocked that easily."

Snape's upper lip curled as he said, "Perhaps it would be prudent to teach our charges how to block unfriendly spells?" Lockhart nodded and decided to pair them up.

"We'll have Potter and Weasley," he said pointing at the two, but Snape didn't go for that idea.

"Weasley's wand causes chaos with the simplest of spells," said Snape. "How about someone from my own House? Malfoy, perhaps?" He strode over to the Slytherins and told Malfoy to get up on stage with Harry, who was not ready for this.

As Lockhart gave the instructions, Malfoy asked if Harry was scared. All Harry could say was, "You wish," and the duel started. Malfoy didn't bother to wait until Lockhart finished counting. When he said 'two', Malfoy cast a Jelly-Legs Curse at him.

_"Rictusempra!"_ Harry bellowed as he flicked his wand at Malfoy, who flew into the air and landed, legs spread, on the floor gasping for breath.

_"Serpensortia!" _Malfoy shouted, and a snake flew out from his wand. The snake, a cobra, started slithering toward the Hufflepuffs and Harry tried to talk it down.

Hallie listened to Harry speak and gasped as she heard hissing and snarling coming from her boyfriend's mouth. "What's happening?" she whispered to Hermione, who gasped. "Annie, what's wrong?"

"We'll find out in a moment, I guess," said Annie in fear. "I think he just spoke snake language, or rather known as Parseltongue." They watched as Harry talked the snake down and Snape got rid of it.


	5. Chapter 5

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 5: Proposal Plan

Harry was dragged into the Gryffindor common room by Ron and followed by Hermione, Annie and Hallie. "What's going on?" he asked Ron, who pushed him into a chair.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a Parselmouth?" Ron demanded, placing a hand on his hip. Harry looked confused.

"A what?" asked Hallie, who was really confused now. The memory of Harry's voice hit her like a dragon's fire. "Oh, you mean the language Harry spoke? I didn't know what it was until now."

"I spoke a different language?" asked Harry curiously. All nodded and he sighed. "If I didn't tell that snake not to attack Justin..."

"So that's what you said to it?" said Ron.

"What do you mean? You heard me!" Harry said, anger welling up quickly. Ron said that he was speaking snake language and that it was bad. "What's bad about it?"

"Harry, there's a reason why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent." Annie said putting a hand on his shoulder. "According to what I've read, Salazar Slytherin was able to speak Parseltongue. Everyone is probably thinking that you're his great, great, great, grandson or something."

"But I'm not!" Harry shouted, making his friends jump. "I can't be."

"Harry, Salazar Slytherin lived over a thousand years ago. For all we know, you could be." Hermione said. Harry said he needed some air and went outside for a while. "Hallie, would you mind catching up to him? I think you might be able to work things out."

"Oh, sure," said Hallie sarcarstically, "put me in this position! Like I'm the only one who can talk some sense into him!" Everyone stared at her and her face grew as red as her hair. "Fine, but if Harry comes in looking totally whacked, don't come crying to me."

Harry sat by the Black Lake and looked at the stars. Hedwig was on his shoulder. "Who am I, Hedwig?" he asked the owl. "What am I?"

"You are Harry Potter," said Hallie from behind him, "and you're my boyfriend. I don't care if you can talk to snakes or do the most extraordinary things. You...are...mine, you got that?"

"Thanks, Hal," said Harry giving her a hug. "That means a lot. I can't believe it. I can talk to snakes, my scar hurts everytime Voldemort's around, and...I can't stop thinking there's some kind of connection." Hallie kissed him on the cheek and stood up, her hand extended as if he should take it. "You want me to go back inside, don't you?"

"Harry, Ron, Hermione and Annie love you as much as I do," she said pulling him up by the arm and leading him toward the castle, "and we're here for you whenever you need us." Harry smiled and they went back to the common room. "Okay, I talked some sense into our fearless hero."

"Thank goodness," said Hermione hugging Harry tightly. "Harry, I'm quite sure Hallie said it, but we're your friends and we're here to help you through anything that's bothering you. If you want to talk, go on."

"All right, then," said Harry thinking about something that was burning in his mind. "I don't think you can help me much with this, but I've got to talk to someone. Hopefully they can helpp. I'm not saying you guys can't but this one has to be an adult." The others nodded and he ran downstairs and outside toward Dumbledore's office. After saying the password, Harry went up and knocked on the door. After being told to enter, he went in. "Professor, I need to talk to you about something that's been bothering me all month."

Professor Dumbledore stared at Harry, and said, "What seems to be the problem?" Harry asked if he could keep this a secret for a while and Dumbledore nodded. "Harry, does this have something to do with Miss Parker?"

"How did you know?" asked Harry. Dumbledore winked and sat down. "Sir, this is very hard to do. I'm sure this never happened before in wizard history, but I want to...um, I..."

Dumbledore seemed to get the idea. "You want to propose to her?" he asked. Harry nodded numbly and blushed red. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, my boy. You are correct that this has never happened in any part of the Wizarding world. If you wish to propose properly, I'd suggest find a date that is suitable for her or that means something to her."

Harry thought for a moment and gasped. "October eleventh!" he said in awe. "Hallie and Annie's birthday! Oh, gosh, I almost forgot. It's in two days!"

"Well, Harry, you mustn't dawdle." Dumbledore said with a smile. "We'll work together on this one. I'll find you a ring that will be lovely on her while you try and work out how to propose properly. We shall have the proposal in the Great Hall in two days at dinner."

Harry ran back to the common room, saw that Hallie and Annie were in bed, and caught Ron and Hermione. "I need to talk to you two right now." he said. "It's really important." The two sat down to listen to him. "I have an idea for the the girls' birthday, but I need your help. Don't fly off the handle, but I'm going to propose to Hallie in front of everyone in two days at dinner."

"Harry, are you out of your mind?" asked Hermione indignantly. "You can't do that! She's eleven and you're only twelve years old! If you two get married, then that'll..." "Put me in the history books?" asked Harry, "Yeah, I know. That's not why I'm doing it, though. I think it's high time I showed Hallie Parker that I love her. I'm madly in love with her and I'm not going to wait any longer."

"Have you thought this through, mate?" Ron asked, his eyes wide with awe. "I mean, are you sure this is what you want? You should at least talk to Annie about this." Hary nodded. "Problem is, those two are inseperable. How are you going to tell Annie about it without Hallie around?"

Harry thought about it and said, "That's where you two come in." Ron and Hermione just listened to his plan. "Hermione can strike up a conversation with Annie, and Ron, you can help me figure out how to propose. If needed, you can teach me how to talk to your dad by using Floo powder."

"Sure. All you have to do is say where you want to go, but stick your head in." Ron said with a shrug. "I saw many of Dad's co-workers at the Ministry talk to him like that. You can do that tomorrow." Harry nodded. "Hermione's good at keeping up a good convesation."

"Then it's settled. "Harry said clapping his hands together. "The plan will start tomorrow morning, since it's a weekend. We'll get Hagrid in on the plan and see what he has to say. Professor Dumbledore's going to find me a ring so I can propose properly and we'll see how things go from there." Ron gulped while Hermione's mouth twitched a little.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 6: The First Attack

October eleventh came sooner than expected. Harry's plan went very well, though he hoped Snape would have made a better effort to help Harry with his gift, but still figured he would be a git about it all. Professor McGonagall was more than happy to help with some Transfiguration ideas, and Flitwick helped with some fancy charm work for the party in the Great Hall.

That was the day before, so Harry had no worries for today. He waited at the girls' dormitory stairs, trying to look business-like. Harry practically had to stop himself from kissing Hallie when she got down the stairs. Annie gave him a hug and a drowsy good morning wish. "Happy birthday, girls," he said with a smile. "Ron and the others are already in the Great Hall for breakfast, so they left me to escort you down."

"Thanks, Harry," said Annie staring at him suspiciously, "that's very sweet of you." Harry waved away the thanks and brought them down to breakfast. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or Nearly-Headless Nick, stopped to wish the girls a happy birthday. "Thanks, Sir Nicholas. How are you this morning?"

"I've had better days, Miss James," said Nick gloomily, "but it's not about me today. It's about you two, so enjoy yourselves." The girls waved and went into the Great Hall to see it decorated with a large banner hanging over the staff table and everyone wearing birthday hats, courtesy of Professor Lockhart.

"Okay, I didn't think he'd go that far," muttered Harry as he saw the hall. "I asked him for simple decorations, not a full bash." Hallie kissed him and sat down for breakfast. Lockhart stood up.

"Good morning all!" he shouted. Snape looked as if he was going to be sick wearing the bright blue party hat on his head. "I want to wish Hallie Parker and Annie James a wonderful twelfth birthday this year!" The hall applauded and cheered the girls at the words. "Now, for Miss Parker, tonight will be a surprise...well, it will for both, but you get the idea. For the two of you, I will be handing out signed photos of Harry Potter and myself together for everyone in my classes." He sat down and Dumbledore stood smiling.

"Thank you, Gilderoy," he said bowing to Lockhart. "Professor Lockhart is correct on the dinner tonight. It will be a surprise courtesy of Mr. Potter." Hallie and Annie grinned at Harry and looked back at Dumbledore. "Now, this surprise will be something very historical, so I sent a letter to the author of _Hogwarts, A History_, saying that something that never happened in Hogwarts is going to happen. I also sent a letter to Bathilda Bagshot, author of _A History of Magic_ saying the same thing. Now, you may go to your classes!"

The classes were very interesting. Almost all of the teachers, aside from Snape, let everyone off without any homework for the day. Snape, who always set homework for his classes, had them compose an essay on the Draught of Living Death for first years, and an essay on the Shrinking Solution for second years and up. After their morning classes, the Gryffindor students went to lunch and back to their afternoon lessons.

By the time the lessons were done, everyone was very excited for dinner, aside from Harry, who was more nervous than anyone in Hogwarts. He was shaking as he walked in and sat down next to Ron and Hallie. Annie was sitting across from them with Hermione, who sat in her usual spot. "Harry, are you ready for this, or what?" whispered Ron anxiously. Harry groaned and tried to eat something, which was hard with a large lump in his throat. "Go on, Harry, Dumbledore's going to call you up there as soon as their parents get here!"

"What?" asked Harry confused. "He didn't say anything about that." He remembered Dumbledore saying that he'd do whatever he could to make things perfect two days ago and finally realized that this was it. "How are they getting here?"

"I think someone from the Ministry is going to get them," said Neville nervously. "I heard Snape talking with Professor Sprout about it." Harry gulped and waited anxiously for their parents to come. "What's up?"

"First I have to do my part, and now I have to meet their parents?" Harry said holding his head in his hands firmly. "What next?" Harry's question was answered when Filch brought three adults into the Great Hall. One was blonde, whom he recognized as Elizabeth James, the wedding gown designer, the other was younger and also blonde. The man was tall with dark hair and a wide smile that looked closely like Lockhart's. "Who's the third?"

"That would be Meredith Blake," said Professor McGonagall curtly as she directed her gaze at the younger blonde woman. "If you ask me, she's good for nothing, and I personally don't like her." She gave a laugh as she saw Hallie's face as Meredith kissed Mr. Parker on the cheek. "Apparently, Hallie doesn't like her either."

Dumbledore tapped his glass with a spoon and said, "Good evening, students and welcome to a wonderful evening of celebration. We have the parents of Hallie Parker and Annie James along with a newcomer, Meredith Blake, who happens to be Mr. Parker's publicist. They will be staying here at Hogwarts as guests, and we shall treat them as such." With a wide smile, he said, "Now, if Harry Potter and Hallie Parker would come up to the staff table, I believe Mr. Potter has an announcement."

Harry took Hallie's hand and, together, they made their way to the staff table. Harry performed the voice amplifying spell on himself so that everyone could hear him. The whole Hall went quiet as Harry cleared his throat. Dumbledore slid him a ring with a large ruby set in the center with a lion inside. Kneeling on one knee, he said, "Hallie, I know we're young, but I don't know how long we can wait for this to happen. You'll no doubt find another guy if I didn't ask you sooner, and to Ginny, I apologize for this." He took a deep breath and asked, "Hallie Parker, would you do the honor of marrying me this Christmas Day?"

Hallie gasped as he asked the question and presented the ring. Annie was shocked, along with half the school and almost fainted. Hallie used the voice amplifying spell on herself and said to the whole school at large, "Harry, you are a wonderful man, and I love you dearly, so yes, I will marry you!" Professor McGonagall actually burst into tears along with Professor Sprout and a few other people in the castle. Harry glanced at Mr. Parker and tried not to smile too much as he saw the man's face contorted with shock. "This is a great birthday present, and I'm sure my sister agrees."

After Harry and Hallie sat down at the Gryffindor table, Harry wished that her dad would have taken this news a little better than he did. "Sir, I'm sorry to drop the bomb on you like that, but it had to be done." he said. Mr. Parker nodded and hugged him. "Mr. Parker, that was unexpected."

"Well, Harry, you proposed to Hallie at twelve years old," said Mr. Parker, "and from what I learned from the Minister, everyone in the Wizarding world comes of age at seventeen, so this is perfectly legal." Harry smiled. "By the way, you can call me 'Dad' from now on."

"Hey, Dad," said Hallie sounding a little out of breath. "I didn't think that would happen, did you?" Mr. Parker shook his head and hugged her tightly. "Oh, can I speak out of turn just this once?" He nodded. "Thank you. You're probably wondering what I think of Meredith, and I'm going to tell you." She took a deep breath and said, "Dad, she's not the right woman for you. She's after your money, and that's all she'd ever be after. From what I see now, she hates being around kids, seeing as she's wrinkling her nose and scowling at all of the students here."

"So, you don't think I should marry her?" asked Mr. Parker curiously. Harry, Hallie, Annie, Hermione and Ron all shook their heads. Mr. Parker grinned and said, "Meredith, the marriage is off!" Meredith screamed in fury and threw her engagement ring at him, which Snape caught with a spell.

"I wouldn't do that," said Snape angrily, "unless you want to be fed to the wolves later tonight. I wouldn't put it past any of these students, Potter and his fiancee' included, to do that to you." Meredith saw the look on his face and stormed out of the hall. Turning to Dumbledore, he muttered, "I shall take her to her home and hope to God she doesn't claw me on the way."

"Severus, that's very nice of you," said Dumbledore with a smile. "However, I think it's best that Hagrid or myself do it at least. I really don't think that the two of you would clash. On the contrary, with your hatred of children, Severus, I daresay she'd marry you!"

"Preposterous!" Snape snarled. "I wouldn't dare marry her if she was the last person on Earth!" With that, he strode toward the Gryffindor table, saying, "Happy birthday, girls, and congratulations, Parker. You'll have a wonderful marriage with Potter." He stormed off toward the dungeons and was gone.

"Well, that's done," said Ron happily. "Snape's not happy, which is normal, and your dad just blew off a wedding. I think we had enough excitement for one day." Looking around, he noticed somebody was missing. "Hey! Where'd Ginny go?"

Harry left the other Gryffindors in the common room and went on a stroll through the corridors. He spotted Ginny in the library a few tables away from Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott, a couple of Hufflepuff students. She was writing in a diary of some sort. The Hufflepuffs started to whisper as he passed them. "As I was saying," said Ernie, his voice low enough for Harry to hear, "I told Justin to hide away in our common room in case Potter decides to come by for an attack."

"So you think Harry did that?" asked Hannah. "You honestly think that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived told that snake to attack Justin?" Ernie nodded. "Well, I don't. I think that's a load of rubbish."

"Hannah, he's a Parselmouth." Ernie protested. "They called Slytherin himself Serpent-Tongue."

"But Harry's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear!" Hannah exclaimed in a whisper. "He wouldn't attack someone like that."

"Maybe that's why You-Know-Who tried to kill him eleven years ago! He didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him!" Ernie whispered excitedly. Harry heard enough and ran up another staircase and bumped, literally, into Hagrid.

"Harry! What are you doing up so late?" Hagrid asked. He held a dead rooster in his hand. "What's wrong? You look all hot and bothered? By the way, that was fantastic when you proposed to Hallie like that."

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry, "and I'm fine, really. I just need to clear my head a little." Glancing at the rooster, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Hagrid sighed and said, "I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore while he's still up. Another rooster got killed last night. Fourth one this week. I'm thinking it's a Bug-Bear or something." Harry nodded and ran off toward the third floor. "Bye, Harry!"

When Harry reached the third floor, he found something he didn't expect. Justin Finch-Fletcley lay on the floor as rigid as a board. A look of pure fright on his face. Next to him was Nearly-Headless Nick, floating upright. His head was hanging on by a piece of transparent flesh and he was smoking slightly. Harry saw Filch and gasped. "I knew it! You'll be in trouble this time, Potter! Mark my words!" Harry tried to tell him that he didn't do it, but he was already gone.

Professor McGonagall arrived and gasped. Harry said it wasn't his doing, but she said curtly, "This is out of my hands, Potter." Then, as if Harry knew what was happening, he found himself in front of Dumbledore's office a second time. "Sherbert Lemon!" McGonagall shouted flicking her hands at the ston wall, which melted away and Harry ascended the moving staircase.

As Harry entered, he saw the Hogwarts Sorting Hat perched on a shelf. Walking toward it, it said, "Bee in your bonnett, Potter?"

Harry, who thought the hat only spoke when it was on someone's head said, "I was wondering if you put me in the right house?"

"You were particularly difficult to place, but I stand by what I said before." the Hat said. "You would have been great in Slytherin."

"You're wrong!" Harry hissed at the Hat. Angrily, he turned around and saw a beautiful red bird on a perch. He petted the bird and it caught fire. "What the hell?" Dumbledore heard his shout and came down the stairs leading to his study. "Sir! I didn't do anything. It just caught fire!"

"Ah, I was hoping he'd do that," said Dumbledore. He didn't seem angry at all. "He's been looking dreadful for days." He went toward the perch and Harry saw a tray with a bunch of ashes beneath the perch. "Amazing creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets." Harry nodded. "Now, I wanted to ask you..."

Hagrid barged in and started babbling. "Professor Dumbledore, sir! Harry didn't do it! He can't have. I was talking with him moments before he saw them!"

"Hagrid, I..."

"Please don't expel him! He didn't do it, I swear!" Hagrid said, not listening to what Dumbledore was sayng.

"HAGRID!" Dumbledore yelled. Hagrid stopped speaking. "I don't think Harry attacked anyone at all."

"Of course you don't," said Hagrid. It hit him moments later. "Oh. I'll just wait outside, then." Dumbledore nodded.

"You don't think I attacked Justin?" Harry asked.

"No, I don't think you did that," said Dumbledore smiling, "but I must ask you is there anything you wish to tell me? Anything at all?"

"No sir, nothing." Harry said. Dumbledore nodded and sent him off to bed. "Thank you, sir." Harry ran toward the common room and plopped onto the sofa by the fire. "That was a close one."

"Hey, sweetie," said Hallie, whom Harry didn't see on the way in. She was in her night gown and looked very tired. "I thought you'd be back before now."

"I got caught up," said Harry shrugging. "I overheard a couple of Hufflepuffs talking about me and it upset me." Hallie sat down and draped an arm around his shoulder affectionately. "Ernie MacMillan said that he thinks I'm the one who attacked Justin and Nick."

"Harry, don't worry about it," said Hallie with a smile. "With me around, you won't have to worry about anyone bothering you. If Ernie even says anything about you, I'll knock his lights out." Harry laughed and gave her a quick hug. "Well, I wanted to see you before I went to bed, so good night." Harry smiled and went to his dormitory as well. "Oh, by the way, Annie is very excited about Christmas, though she asked if we could make it Christmas Eve instead." Harry nodded and closed the dormitory door.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 7: Riddle's Diary and a Broken Arm

Harry and Ron decided to have a stroll through the corridors and came across the second floor, which happened to be full of water again. "I wonder what Moaning Myrtle's upset about now?" Harry wondered as they went inside the girls' bathroom. They saw Myrtle, the ghost who haunted the girls' bathroom, floating by the window. "What's going on?"

"Oh, did you come to throw something else at me?" asked Myrtle gloomily.

"Why would we throw something at you?" asked Harry confused. Myrtle glared at him.

"I don't know! One moment, I was sitting in the U-bend thinking about death, and then that book flew through my head." she said pointing at her toilet. A black, leather book lay there. Ron, being tactless as usual, said something he wished he didn't.

"Well, what's so bad about that? You can't feel it, can you? It'd go right through you." he said smiling. This was a mistake because Myrtle flew at him angrily.

"Oh, let's all throw things at Myrtle because she can't feel it!" she yelled. "Ten points if it goes through her stomach!" Myrtle punched her hand through Ron's stomach. "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" She ended her shout with a punch through Ron's head.

Harry picked up the diary and flipped through its soaked pages. "Well, let's go back to the common room." The two went to the common room to drop off the diary and Harry went to his first Quidditch match of the season.

The match was very tough this year with Malfoy as Seeker for Slytherin. With him jeering at Harry half the time, it was hard to keep an eye on the Snitch. "All right there, Scar Head?" yelled Malfoy jeeringly at Harry, who was trying to find the Snitch at the same time. Harry looked and saw the golden ball hovering by Malfoy's ear and flew toward him.

Around the time Harry went after the ball, a Bludger pelted after him. Hallie watched as the large ball tried to attack. "Oh, crap! Harry's got a rogue Bludger!" Ron grabbed the binoculars and put a hand to his mouth. "Come on, Harry, you can do it!" Hallie yelled over the crowd. She gasped as the Bludger chased him under the stands and around the pitch. Finally, she let out a shout of shock as the large ball hit Harry in the elbow, breaking his arm. Running down toward the pitch, she watched Hermione use a spell to blow the Bludger up. "Harry, are you okay?"

"No," Harry said wincing slightly, "I think my arm's broken." Hallie tried not to touch the injured arm and smiled when Lockhart appeared at their side.

"Don't worry, Harry," said Lockhart with a smile, "I'm about to fix your arm." Harry told him that he didn't want him to do it, but this didnt' phase the teacher. "Doesn't know what he's saying." Lockhart said to the crowd. Annie rolled her eyes, which soon turned to horror as he drew his wand and said, _"Brachiarm Emendo!"_ There was a flash of blue light and Harry's arm flopped around. "Well, as you can see, the bones are clearly not broken."

"Broken?" Hagrid roared in shock. "There's no bones left!" Lockhart held Harry's boneless arm in one hand and bent it backward. Hallie gasped again. "Will you stop doing that? He's gonna be fine."

"Hagrid, I really think we should take him to the Hospital Wing!" Annie yelled. "If we don't, Hallie's going to be married to a one-armed boy, and she really doesn't want that!" Hagrid nodded and watched Ron, Hermione and the girls help Harry to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was furious about this new problem. "You should have come right to me!" she huffed as she pulled out a bottle labeled _Skele-Gro_ from the cupboard. "I can mend bones in a second, but growing them back..."

"You can grow them back, right?" asked Hallie, her voice trembling. Madam Pomfrey nodded and said that it would be very painful. Harry drank the potion and spit some of it out.

"Well, what did you expect, pumpkin juice?" said Madam Pomfrey furiously. "Parker, since you're going to be marrying Potter, you can stay with him tonight, but only tonight." Hallie nodded and watched as the matron set up a cot for her. "The rest of you can leave now." Hermione, Ron and Annie went to the common room.

Late that night, Hallie was awoken by a loud _crack_ from beside her. Harry jerked awake and looked on his bed to see Dobby, the house-elf sitting there. "Hello!" said the elf happily. Harry sat up.

"What are you doing here?" Harry hissed. Hallie glared at the little creature. "Did you do all this?"

"Yes, sir," said Dobby sadly. "Dobby was hoping that Harry wouldn't go back, so he sealed the platform barrier shut. Then, when Dobby found out that Harry Potter returned to Hogwarts, he sent his rogue Bludger in hope that Harry Potter would be sent home."

"Hold the phone!" Hallie whispered angrily. "Your Bludger? You sent that Bludger to kill my fiance'?"

"No, never kill!" Dobby said hastily. "Dobby just wanted Harry Potter sent home. He had to iron his hands afterwards, sir." Dobby held up his hands, which were in bandages.

"Dobby, you better clear off or I might strangle you!" Harry said in a deathly whisper. Scratching his chin with his good hand he added, "Or I can have Hallie take care of it. She's much worse when angry!" Dobby jumped off the bed and sighed.

"Dobby is used to death threats, sir," he said with a sigh. "Dobby gets them five times a day at home." The creature blew his nose on his pillowcase.

"Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?" asked Harry curiously.

"This is the trademark of a house-elf's enslavement," said Dobby. "My masters..." He stopped and took the bottle of _Skele-Gro_ and started to hit himself over the head with it yelling, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Stop!" Harry whispered. "Look, I know you can't speak ill of your masters, but you have to tell me something. What's going on?" Before Dobby could answer, he vanished. Hallie flew onto her cot and pretended to sleep, which Harry did the same. "What's going on?" His question was soon answered as Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall helped Madam Pomfrey put someone on the bed nearby.

"Another attack?" McGonagall asked. Dumbledore nodded. Looking at a camera in the person's hand, Harry and Hallie recognized Colin Creevey, a first year that liked to take pictures of Harry whenever he could. "The camera! Maybe he saw his attacker!" Dumbledore opened the back of it and white smoke puffed out "What does this mean, Albus?"

"It means that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again," Dumbledore said gravely, "and it is likely that Hogwarts will be closed." Harry's eyes widened in horror and saw Hallie's face wearing the same expression.

Harry was discharged from the hospital wing after Hallie left for breakfast and went to Myrtle's bathroom to find Ron and Hermione sitting on the floor. "Harry, how's your arm?" Harry shrugged and sat down with them. A small fire was lit under a cauldron and Hermione put some ingredients into the potion. "It's nearly ready. Just a few more weeks and we'll be finding out the truth."

"Great," said Harry. "I hope to God it's before the wedding because Hallie would literally kill me if the groom isn't there." Harry said grimly. Ron nodded and looked at Hermione, who shrugged. "You don't know how long it'll take?"

"Well, actually, a few weeks is Christmas Eve, so you might have to talk to Annie about having it Christmas morning." Hermione said worriedly. "I'm sure Dumbledore would understand." Harry nodded. "Anyway, after a few weeks, all you need are some hairs from who you're changing into, and then drink it."

"Perfect." Harry said with a smile. "Well, I better meet up with Hallie so we can talk about wedding plans with her parents. If I'm correct, her grandfather should be coming around this weekend." He ran toward the common room and found Hallie inside, sitting with Annie and having a nice chat with Percy Weasley. "Um, Annie, could we talk a moment?" Harry asked his soon-to-be sister.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Annie asked. Harry then told her the situation about the Polyjuice Potion and what he, Ron and Hermione were going to do on Christmas Eve. "Oh, that's great," she said with a sigh. "All right, I suppose you can have the wedding on Christmas Day. Actually, that'll be a better idea than Christmas Eve." Harry thanked her and went over some wedding plans with the girls. "I had a good color scheme in mind, too. How does silver and black work?"

"I'll wear silver, and Harry wears black?" asked Hallie excitedly. Annie nodded. "Awesome. That sounds good. I'll tell every girl, teachers included, that they're to wear silver and Harry can tell all the boys to wear black."

"Well, Snape won't object to wearing black seeing as he does every day." Harry said. "The problem is Lockhart. He always wears bright colors like blue, green, red, and other colors like that. How am I going to get him to wear black?" Percy said he'd talk to Lockhart and help out with some of the plans. "Thanks, Percy."

"Well, how can I not help my soon-to-be cousin?" said Percy with a grin. "Besides, I'm a Hogwarts prefect. I can talk with the teachers about this."

Christmas Eve was very interesting. The Polyjuice Potion was ready, and Hermione had a plan to get Crabbe and Goyle's hairs; two cakes spiked with a simple, but powerful, sleeping draught. Harry and Ron went down by the entrance hall and Harry used the Levitation Charm to suspend the cakes in midair. Crabbe and Goyle came out with food in their arms and saw the cakes. Each took one and ate, then slumped to the floor. "How thick can you get?" asked Ron in disgust. Harry shrugged and pulled a couple hairs out of Crabbe and Goyle.

Hermione was adding the last ingredient to the potion and stirring it when Harry and Ron returned. "Did you do it?" she asked. Harry held up two hairs and she nodded. Ron looked over beside her and asked what the robes were for. "Those are Slytherin robes. I sneaked them from the laundry. Now, add the hairs, and we'll drink." She poured some potion into three glasses and wrinkled her nose. It looked like mud.

"What about you? Whose hair did you rip out?" asked Ron. Hermione held up a phial with a single hair inside it. According to Hermione, the hair belonged to Millicent Bulstrode, a Slytherin girl. After adding the hairs, they drank their potion and Ron gagged. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Me, too!" Hermione said dropping her glass onto the floor and running into one of the stalls. Harry didn't have time to do anything after he drank his potion. His skin bubbled and started to change. Seconds later, he was Gregory Goyle.

Ron came out as Crabbe. "Harry?" he said. Harry looked at Ron and smiled victoriously. "Bloody hell."

"Crabbe's voice is deeper," said Harry. Ron tried again in a deeper voice, and Harry smiled again. "Hermione, come on!"

"I don't think I'll be going with you!" she said. "Harry asked if she was all right, and she said, "I'll be fine. Just go. You're wasting too much time." After hearing this, Harry and Ron ran toward the dungeons and tried to find the Slytherin common room.

As they reached the dungeons, Harry saw Percy coming. Percy, who was not very happy at this moment, asked what they were doing there. "What are you doing here, then?" asked Ron.

"I'm a prefect and I'm allowed to wander the corridors," said Percy. "Who are you two again?" Harry and Ron were trying to remember their names when Draco Malfoy appeared.

"Crabbe, Goyle! I was looking all over for you two!" he said. "Were you pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?" Ron nodded and Malfoy turned to Percy. "What are you doing down here, Weasley?"

"I am a Hogwarts prefect, and I don't like your attitude." Percy said. Malfoy scoffed and led them to the Slytherin common room.

"Well, sit down," said Malfoy as they got inside the common room. Harry and Ron sat on the couch and waited. He talked about the Heir of Slytherin and the when the Chamber of Secrets was opened before. Harry asked if he knew who opened it before, but Malfoy said he didn't. "I think Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. It's only a matter of days before a Mudblood is killed. As for me, I hope it's Granger." Ron got ticked off and stood up. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Stomach ache," said Harry. "Need to get something for it." He whispered to Ron to calm down, and noticed that Ron's hair was turning red again. Ron saw Harry's scar and pointed at it. They both ran up to the entrance hall and to Myrtle's bathroom on the second floor. "Hermione! We've got loads to tell you!"

"Go away!" Hermione yelled back. "I'm not coming out." Harry asked if she was okay, and she said, "I'm fine!"

"Wait till you see," said Myrtle, "it's awful." Harry opened the stall door and saw Hermione with cat ears and face.

"Do you remember me saying that Polyjuice Potion is supposed to be for human use only?" Hermione asked. Harry and Ron nodded. "It was a cat's hair I had. Just look at my face."

Ron tried not to laugh as he said, "Look at your tail!"

Later that night, Harry was very nervous for the next day but was more worried about Hermione. She was in the hospital wing and had the fur on her face removed. Harry brought the diary with him so she could see it. "Hang on. There's a name on it," said Hermione glancing at the binding. "It says Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" said Ron, his face contorted with thought. "I know that name. Where do I know that name?" After a few seconds of thinking, he explained. "Oh, of course. I saw the name in the trophy room. Tom Marvolo Riddle was given an award for special services to the school fifty years ago. I know because Filch made me polish it over and over after i burped slugs on it."

"The Chamber was opened fifty years ago!" Hermione said excitedly. "What if he wrote what happened or what he saw?"

"That's a brilliant theory, Hermione," said Harry, "but there's one flaw. There's nothing written in this diary." He flipped through the pages to show her. Hermione hung her head, then raised it to ask a question.

"Ron told me earlier today that you're really nervous about the wedding tomorrow," she said in concern. "How are you feeling?"

"Still nervous, actually." Harry told her. "I thought about it all day, but I'm not going to back out on it. I proposed and that's the end of it." Harry remembered the set list that Hallie made and said, "Aren't you one of Hallie's bridesmaids?"

"Yes, I am, and I'm hoping Madam Pomfrey lets me out tomorrow so I can be there. I don't want Hallie to get upset that I'm not there." Hermione said worriedly. "If I'm not there, then she'd have to choose someone else, and I promised her I'd be one of them."

"Speaking of that," said Ron thinking. "Did you choose your best man and groomsmen?" Harry held out a list that he wrote. "Great! I'm the best man and Neville, Seamus and Dean are the groomsmen!"

"Yeah, I thought you'd be happy for that." Harry said smiling slightly. "It was either you or Draco Malfoy, but I didn't want him to ruin it." Ron laughed and Hermione let out a giggle. "Well, I better get started on my dress robes. Mr. Parker wants to have a pre-wedding chat with me, and I think he's staying until after the New Year." Ron nodded and Hermione beamed. "Hope to see you guys there."


	8. Chapter 8

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 8: Celebrations and a Scare

The morning of Chrstmas Day, Harry was really nervous. Dressed in his black dress robes, he walked to the Great Hall. Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus were waiting for him at the doors. "Well, this is it, guys." Harry said nervously. "The day I tie the knot with Hallie."

"Do you need someone to talk you down in case you have pre-wedding jitters?" asked Dean. "I had to do that with my aunt two years ago." Harry shook his head. "Well, we're all here for you if you need us."

"Thanks, guys," said Harry happily. "I'm glad you guys are here." He pulled out a piece of parchment and read it to himself. Ron glanced at it and smiled. "Yes, they're my vows. What do you guys think? Will they work?"

"Harry, you're lucky to have her," said Seamus. "Though, you had a point about waiting to marry her." Harry gave his friend a weak smile, which then turned into a frown as Professor McGonagall, who was wearing a silver tartan dress and matching hat, waved them into the hall and led them to the staff table. "Wow! The Great Hall looks bloody spectacular!"

There was no doubt about that. The Great Hall looked extravogant with silver streamers falling down the enchanted ceiling, silver candles floating in midair, and Professor Lockhart in a black robe, smiling as Harry came in. Professor Dumbledore didn't wear black, but silver as he was the one to get the two married today. Harry was surprised to see Draco Malfoy waving at Harry and giving him the thumbs up. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Malfoy's happy for me." Harry whispered as he and the other four made their way up to the staff table. Neville beamed and stood still. "Do you have the rings?"

"Harry, I may forget a lot of things, but the rings are not one of them." Neville said seriously. "I would never forget something so important."

"This coming from the boy who forgets the passwords to the common room and forgets what he's forgotten while holding a Remembrall." Ron muttered. A violin played and all the guys gasped as Hallie came in wearing a silver wedding gown and matching veil over her face. Hermione was wearing a metallic silver dress made of a very fluffy material. "Bloody hell, Hermione looks gorgeous!" Harry gave a smile and held hands with Hallie as soon as she got up to the table.

"Good morning, Hogwarts!" yelled Dumbledore, his voice magically magnified by his wand. "I welcome you to the very first marriage of two very young people. One in first year, and one in second. this is the first time Hogwarts has ever had a wedding, and we have two guests here this morning to record everything." He pointed to a very old woman holding a notepad and quill. "Please welcome Bathilda Bagshot, author of _A History of Magic_, and the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who will be taking my place as Justice of the Peace."

The Minister of Magic stepped forward and held his wand to his throat. "As Minister for Magic, I am honored to bond these two in marriage!" he said. "Now, will Harry Potter please step forward and say his vows?"

Harry stood, his voice magically magnified without a wand. "Hallie, when I first met you in a flying car this summer, I knew you were the right girl for me. I may have broken somebody else's heart, but that's not a problem. I love you, and only you, and I hope you are ready for what I have to give."

The Minister looked at Hallie, who said, "Harry, I'm going to say the same thing. When Ron, Fred and George brought my sister and I to get you, I was nervous about meeting you. But when I finally got to know you, my heart burst with love and excitement for you. Sure, I was angry when you crashed that car into a tree, but I still love you no matter what you do."

"With that said, do you, Harry Potter, take Hallie Parker to be your wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to death do you part?" Harry said he did. "Do you, Hallie Parker, take Harry Potter to be your husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" Hallie said she did. "Mr. Longbottom, could we have the rings?" Neville handed the rings over and both put a ring on one another's finger. "Well, now that all this is over, I have one question. Is there anyone in this room who objects to this marriage? If so, please speak now, or forever hold your peace." Nobody spoke. "Harry Potter, you may kiss the bride." Harry kissed Hallie softly, and, in tears, Fudge said, "By the power invested in me and the Ministry of Magic, I pronounce you husband and wife!"

Later that day, Harry was asked by Oliver Wood, despite being married, to play against Hufflepuff in a Quidditch match. Hermione was supposed to be in the stands, but didn't make it. Professor McGonagall came up with a scroll of parchment and a look of horror on her face. "I'm sorry, but the match is cancelled." she said. "There's been another attack. Potter, Weasley, there is something you should see." She led them to the Hospital wing, Hallie at their heels. "Now, this may be a wee bit of a shock."

There on one one of the beds lay Hermione, as stiff as a board and holding a hand up in front of her. "Hermione!" Ron gasped. Hallie's eyes burst with tears as she put her head on Harry's shoulder. He patted her back and hung his head.

"She had this." McGonagall said holding up a mirror. "Does this mean anything to you?" Harry and Ron shook their heads, but Hallie nodded. "What does it mean, Mrs. Potter?"

"Um, I think it means whatever attacked her didn't kill her." Hallie stammered. "S-she's just Petrified." McGonagall squinted at her, but said nothing. "Harry, something's not right. What would attack Justin Finch-Fletchley, Nearly-Headless Nick, Colin and Hermione, but not kill them?"

"I don't know, dear," said Harry, "but whatever did this is going to get a taste of its own medicine." They went down the corridor and went to the common room in which McGonagall read a list of rules.

"Now, these rules should be followed directly," she said unrolling the parchment. "First, all students must report to their common rooms at precisely six o'clock. No night-time wanderings." She rolled the parchment up again and said sadly, "Professor Dumbledore wouldn't want me to tell you this, but it is likely the school might close."

As soon as she left, Harry looked at Ron, Hallie and Annie. "We have to visit Hagrid." he said. Ron recited what McGonagall said, but Harry didn't listen. "I think it's time I brought my dad's old cloak out again." Hallie and Annie, who only heard about Harry's Invisibility Cloak, gasped and watched him run upstairs and back down with it in his hands. Throwing it over the four of them, they headed to Hagrid's hut.

As they reached the hut, Harry knocked on the door and Hagrid opened it, a crossbow in his hand. "What's that for?" Harry asked as he took off the cloak. Hagrid let them in and shakily filled five cups of tea. "Hagrid, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Hagrid said. Hallie asked if he heard about Hermione. "I heard about that all right." Hagrid sighed. "It's sad, really."

"Hagrid, we have something to ask you." Annie said helping him pour the rest of the tea. "Do you know who opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

"What you should know about that is..." Hagrid's sentence was cut off by a knocking at the door. "Be with you in a moment! Get under the cloak, all of you." Harry threw the cloak over the four of them once more and backed off into a corner. "Ah, Professor Dumbledore, sir. What can I do for you?" Hagrid let the headmaster and the Minister of Magic inside. "Minister? What are you doing here?"

Cornelius Fudge looked very distraught as he said, "Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business. Three Muggle-borns have been attacked and we've got to act." Hagrid protested that he did nothing wrong, so Dumbledore stepped in.

"I want it known, Cornelius, that Hagrid is under my supervision and has done nothing wrong." he said.

"I'm sorry, Albus, but Hagrid's charges are against him. We have to take him." Fudge said sadly.

"Take me? Take me where?" Hagrid boomed. Harry felt Hallie's hand jerk at the tone of his voice and squeezed her wrist with his own hand. "Not Azkaban prison?" Another knock was heard and Lucius Malfoy came in as well. "What are you doing here? Get out of my house!"

"Believe me, dear man, I would never dream of walking into your...you call this a house?" Lucius said disgustedly. Then, turning to the headmaster, he held out a roll of parchment with a red ribbon on it. "What I have here is a petition for your removal as headmaster. You'll find that all twelve governors have signed it."

"If you get rid of Dumbledore, then Hogwarts won't be safe!" Hagrid shouted. "You mark my words. There'll be killins next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," Dumbledore said walking toward Lucius. "If the governors think that I am no longer fit to run Hogwarts, then I will step aside. However, the students will find that help will always be given to those who ask for it." Harry had the feeling, along with Ron and the girls, that Dumbledore could see through the Invisibility Cloak, which was where he was looking.

Fudge was waiting for Hagrid, who said, "If anyone was looking for stuff, then all they'd have to do is follow the spiders. Yep, that'll lead 'em right." Before he left, Hagrid added, "Oh, and someone would need to feed Fang while I'm away."

After everyone left, Harry threw the cloak off. "Well, you heard Hagrid. Let's follow the spiders." Hallie whimpered and Annie groaned. "If you two don't want to come, then we can drop you off at the castle."

"No, no, we'll go." Hallie said clutching Harry's hand. "I said I'd be with you through thick and thin, and this is one of those times. Let's follow the spiders and see what happens." Harry nodded and they went through the Forbidden Forest. Hours later, they reached what looked to be a hollow. "Great! We're going into a spider's den and we're the meal."

"Don't worry. I know one spell, but it's not enough for all of them." Harry said. He whispered the spell into the girls' ear so they could use it if they needed to. "Okay, let's go inside the hollow and find out what's going on."

After going through the hollow's entrance, the group of four found themselves staring at a giant spider. "Hagrid?" it asked. It's voice was old and it was partially blind. Harry said they were friends of Hagrid's. "What is the problem that Hagrid sends children into our midst?"

"W-we have a problem at the school," said Annie nervously. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened and everyone's thinking that Hagrid did it. According to what Harry told us, Hagrid opened it last time."

The spider grew angry. "That is a lie! Hagrid did no such thing." Harry asked what he meant. "Hagrid was raising me when Tom Riddle accused him of opening it. He told everyone that I was the monster that was attacking Muggle-borns. I can say this...what did attack Muggle-borns killed a girl in a bathroom." A bunch of spiders surrounded the four, and Harry gulped.

"Well, thank you," he said nervously. "We'll just go."

"Go?" asked Aragog angrily. "I think not. Why deny my brothers and sisters fresh meat when it comes so willingly into our midst?" Harry and the others ran for it, but were soon surrounded.

_"Eronia Exeme!"_ Hallie shouted. A blast of white light hit a few spiders, stunning them. "It's not working, Harry!" Harry cursed and soon covered his eyes as two bright lights appeared. "Isn't that the car you crashed?" Harry nodded and they all hopped in. "Okay, let's get out of here now, and then we can worry about what's going on!"

As soon as the car got them to safety, it chucked them out and sped off into the distance. "Follow the spiders! Follow the spiders! If Hagrid makes it out of Azkaban alive, I'll kill him!" Ron yelled. "What did we find out today?"

"We found out that Hagrid's innocent!" Harry said. "Aragog said something about a girl dying in a bathroom." Looking at Hallie, Annie and Ron, he said, "What if that girl never left?" Ron, Hallie and Annie gasped as they realized what was going on.

Harry, Ron, Hallie and Annie ran to Myrtle's bathroom and stopped dead as the ghost turned to face them. "Harry, what do you want?" she asked curiously.

"To ask how you died." Harry said. "It's very important to us right now."

"It was dreadful," said Myrtle sadly. "I was in this very stall crying about Olive Hornby teasing me about my glasses, when I heard a male voice near the sinks. I came out to tell him to go away and I died." Hallie gasped at this news, but Harry asked if Myrtle knew who the boy was. "No, I don't. All I can remember is seeing a pair of big, yellow eyes over there." Harry turned toward the sinks and turned the faucets. Nothing happened.

"Thanks, Myrtle," said Harry in a highly satisfied voice. "You're a big help." He motioned for the others to follow him back to the common room. They made it toward the main staircase when they saw McGonagall and a few other teachers. "Hold on, you four. I think we better listen to this." Harry beckoned them around the corner and they listened to the conversation at hand.

"I found another message on the wall," said McGonagall, "and the monster has taken a person into the Chamber."

"Who is it?" asked Professor Sprout.

McGonagall was very upset and nearly choked on her words as she said, "Ginny Weasley." Ron fainted, Hallie burst into silent tears and cried into Harry's shoulder while Annie hung her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Well, Gilderoy, it seems your time has come at last."

Lockhart, who was not listening much, looked at her in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you did say that you wanted a chance to face the monster on your own, Gilderoy, so your chance has finally come." Lockhart looked stricken, but the expression passed in seconds.

"Right, well, I'll just go to my office and...get ready." Lockhart said with a smile. Harry and the others ran to the common room to let the girls get some sleep. Hallie practically begged him and Ron to let her go with them.

"Fine!" Harry said trying not to get too angry. "You can come if you want to, but if someone writes to your parents saying that you got into a dangerous situation, I'm not to blame, all right?" Hallie agreed to it, so she, Harry and Ron went to Lockhart's office to talk with him. "Professor, we have something to tell you! Are you going somewhere?"

Every bit of luggage in Lockhart's office was being packed and Lockhart was putting the last of his books away. "Oh, Harry, I didn't see you come in." he said. "I have an urgent call...unavoidable."

"You're running away?" Hallie growled. "You're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! I actually believed in what you did in your books!" She threw her hands into the air and turned her back to him. "I no longer have any faith in you." Lockhart tried to explain the situation. "What about all the stuff you did in your books?"

"Mrs. Potter, books can be misleading!" Lockhart said. Harry glared at him. "I would never have been famous if everyone didn't think I did any of those things!"

"You're a fraud!" Harry yelled pointing at Lockhart. "You just took credit for what others did! What about Ginny, eh? She's lying in the Chamber of Secrets right now, and she's about to die! We know where the entrance is, and you're coming with us." Lockhart tried to run, but Harry, Hallie and Ron pointed their wands at him. "Let's go, Professor. You're going first."


	9. Chapter 9

Harry Potter and the Magic of Love

Chapter 9: The Chamber of Secrets

Harry, Ron and Hallie kept their pointed at Lockhart as they entered Myrtle's bathroom again. Myrtle watched as Harry opened the entrance with Parseltongue and pushed Lockhart into the pipe first. A thud was heard and Lockhart said, "It's really quite filthy down here!" Harry slid down the pipe followed by Ron and Hallie. As soon as they landed, Harry lit his wand and looked around. "Great Scott! What is that?" Lockhart asked pointing to something large.

"It looks like a snake!" Ron said looking at the large object from a distance. Harry said it was a snake's skin, and Ron added, "It's got to be at least sixty feet long." Lockhart fainted. Hallie, who was looking at him closely, was knocked to the ground by the teacher's feet. Harry went to help her up.

"The adventure ends here, you three," Lockhart said holding Ron's Spellotaped wand, a mad look in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sure everyone would be sad to hear the story of how you three tragically lost your minds at the sight of the girl's mangled body." Hallie closed her eyes waiting for the unavoidable loss of memory as the teacher raised the wand. _"Obliviate!" _

Ron's damaged wand actually backfired and Lockhart hit a rock and slumped to the ground. The ground shook as large rocks fell from the ceiling. Harry and Hallie were suddenly on the other side while Ron was with Lockhart. "Ron! Are you okay?" Hallie yelled.

"I'm fine!" Ron yelled back. "Lockhart's not, though!" Lockhart woke up and looked at Ron.

"Hello," he said rather stupidly. "Who are you?" Ron told him his name. "Really? And who am I?"

"The Memory Charm backfired! He hasn't got a clue who he is!" Ron told them.

"This is an odd sort of place," said Lockhart looking around. Ron picked up a small rock and held it. "Do you live here?" Ron said he didn't and hit the teacher over the head, knocking him out.

"You try and shift some of the rock," said Harry, "while Hallie and I go through the Chamber and save Ginny! Be careful!" Ron did as he was told and started to shift some of the rock while Harry and Hallie went toward a large door shaped like a vault door. Harry told it to open in Parseltongue and three large, stone snakes slid inside the door as it opened. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Harry, I'm with you no matter what," said Hallie firmly, "and I made a vow to go with you wherever you do when it comes to something like this." Harry told her that she didn't say anything during the wedding ceremony, and she laughed. "I made this vow in my head, and I'm sticking to it." Harry kissed her and they went through the doorway toward the Chamber.

As soon as they got through, Harry and Hallie saw Ginny lying on the ground, unconscious. When they reached her, a young man stepped forward smiling. "She won't wake." he said. Harry asked if Ginny was dead. "No, she's alive, but only just." Harry looked for his wand and saw the boy holding it.

"Hang on, you're Tom Riddle!" Hallie said gasping, her eyes like fire. "Give Harry his wand!" Riddle laughed and pushed her aside. "Oh, you did not just do that." she muttered marching up to him.

"You heard her, Tom," said Harry angrily. "Hand over my wand." Riddle just twirled it in his fingers and smiled.

"Do you want to know how poor Ginny got here, Harry?" he asked. "You see, when Ginny found my diary, she started writing in it. All her worries and dreams came to me. A lot of them were about you, but they stopped the day before you got married."

"Wait. Ginny wrote in your diary like I did?" asked Harry. Riddle smiled again.

"As I was saying, she poured her soul into the diary, just enough to allow me to put some of my soul into her. I possessed her, yes." Riddle explained. "I was the one who told her to write those messages on the wall. Ginny got scared and tried to dispose of my diary, but who should find it? You, the person I was most anxious to meet."

"You wanted to meet Harry? Why?" Hallie asked, a hand on her hip and the other hand holding her wand. "Go on. Tell us."

"You see, Harry, I just wanted to gain your trust, so I showed you my memory of when I got that stupid oaf, Hagrid, expelled and you started to listen." Riddle said ignoring Hallie. He lifted Harry's wand and wroted three words in the air and switched them around.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Harry stared at the words until they vanished. "Voldemort?" he said looking into the face of the former Tom Riddle.

"You didn't think I'd keep the name of my filthy Muggle father, did you?" Riddle spat. "I fashioned myself a new name; a name that I knew wizards would one day fear as I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

"You're wrong!" Hallie shouted. Her hand was shaking violently and she was very furious. "Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

"Dumbledore was driven away from Hogwarts by the mere memory of me!" Riddle shouted back at her. In his anger, Riddle shot a spell at Hallie, who cried out in pain and holding her right hand. Harry roared in anger and stood up.

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," he said through clenched teeth. Riddle waved Harry's wand and Hallie was lifted onto a high rock. "What are you doing?"

"Let's see how my monster goes up against the great Harry Potter." Riddle said. Then, holding a hand up, he spoke in Parseltongue and the statue of Salazar Slytherin's mouth opened. A large snake slithered out and hissed at Harry. "KILL HIM!"

Harry dodged as the snake tried to attack. After a while of dodging, Fawkes the phoenix flew in, dropped a hat onto the ground, and attacked the basilisk's eyes. When Fawkes finished the task, Harry saw a hilt made of silver and rubies and pulled out a sword. "Hold on, Hallie, I'm coming!" he growled as he stood and climbed some rock that had a good foot hold. He reached her unconscious body and parried some of the snake's attacks.

Finally, Harry had his chance. The snake opened its mouth and jabbed the sword through the roof of the mouth. He felt a pain in his right arm and saw a fang sticking out of it. Picking up Hallie, he set her down next to Ginny and watched Riddle.

"You killed the basilisk!" Riddle roared. "No matter. Basilisk venom kills very fast after entering the bloodstream. You only have a minute or two before you die." Riddle's eyes widened in horror as Harry stabbed the diary with the fang. Ink bled out of it and, after stabbing it through the cover, Riddle exploded.

Hallie and Ginny woke up at the same time and gasped. "Harry!" Hallie said groggily. "What happened?"

"You'll be alright," Harry said hugging her tightly. He ripped off a piece of his robes and made a bandage on her right palm. "We'll have Dumbledore look at it later. Right now, we have to get Ginny out of here." He was getting weak. His vision was blurring and he couldn't move. Fawkes flew toward him and landed on the ground next to him. "You were fantastic, Fawkes. I wasn't quick enough." Fawkes put his head on Harry's wrist and a tear shed. The tear hit Harry's arm and the wound was healed. "I forgot! Phoenix tears have healing powers!"

"Harry, I didn't know what I was doing," said Ginny in fear. "First thing I know, I was writing in that diary, and then I'm here." Hallie smiled as she helped her cousin up. "Hallie, what happened to your hand?"

"Oh, that bastard, Tom Riddle, shot a spell at me with Harry's wand. It hit my hand and it's burning a bit, but Harry said he'll have Dumbledore look at it later." she said. "Come on. Let's get you to Ron and we'll find a way out of here."

Moments later, the five of them were flying up a large tunnel toward the school by Fawkes. Harry held onto the phoenix's tail while Ron, Hallie, Ginny and Lockhart held onto one another's feet. "Merlin's beard! This is just like magic!" Lockhart yelled as they flew high into the air. When they landed, Harry dropped Hallie off to the hospital wing requesting that his wife's hand get looked at right away and he, Lockhart and Ron went to Dumbledore's office.

"Harry, what can I do for you?"asked Dumbledore with a smile. Harry then handed over the diary and told the story about who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Dumbledore listened and gave both of them awards for special services to the school. "Mr. Weasley, might I ask you to send these papers to the Ministry? We need our gamekeeper back." Ron ran off with the papers, leaving Harry with Dumbledore. "Now, Harry. I think you're wondering how you got that scar." Harry nodded. "You see, when Voldemort tried to kill you that night, he accidentally put a bit of his powers into you."

"Voldemort transferred his powers to me?" Harry asked thunderstruck by this news. "He didn't mean to do that, did he?" Dumbledore shook his head. "Sir, about Hallie. What exactly did the Riddle in the diary do to her?"

"Could you explain to me exactly what happened to her?" Dumbledore asked curiously. "I have a feeling I might know what happened if you tell me the story."

"Well, sir, while I was trying to wake Ginny up, Riddle told us how he made the name Voldemort. He said that it was a name that people would fear and that he would be the greatest sorcerer in the world." Harry told the headmaster slowly. "Hallie said that you were and he cast a spell with my wand and it hit the palm of her left hand."

"Ah," said Dumbledore holding a finger up for a moment, "that explains a lot. What do you say we go and see your darling wife?" Harry was excited and worried at the same time. "If this is as serious as you say, I shall call on Professor Snape to accompany us." Harry nodded, though he felt a twinge of hatred toward Snape. "Now, shall we go?"

Harry followed Dumbledore through the castle and to the hospital wing on the fifth floor. Severus Snape stood at the door waiting for them. "Headmaster, Mrs. Potter is waiting for us now." he said leading them into the hospital wing. Harry saw Hallie, her hand wrapped in a bandage and a bottle of pain potion on her table. "Mrs. Potter, we would like to see your palm, please?"

"Yes, sir," said Hallie. Harry gasped as he saw her palm after she took off the bandage. A scar the shape of a lightning bolt, not unlike his own, was etched into her palm. "It's bad, isn't it?"

"My dear girl, it looks like the Riddle in the diary has given you the same mark as your husband." Dumbledore said with a grim look. "Severus, will her scar have the same abilities as Harry's?" Snape took a look at the scar and nodded slowly. "Not only does Harry have a destiny with Voldemort, but so do you, my dear."

"Well, I said I'd be with Harry through death till us part, but I didn't think I'd have to go through the same thing as he did." Hallie grumbled. "Oh man! What will Dad say about all this? He'll freak when he sees this!"

"Not to worry, Hallie," said Dumbledore holding up a hand to silence her. "I shall inform your father of this situation and I do have one surprise for you. Harry, you will no longer be joining your aunt and uncle in Privet Drive, for you will be living with Hallie." Harry gasped and looked very happy. "As for Annie, well, I think you'll find out soon enough. If I am correct, your mother should be coming here to tell you the news."

Unfortunately, Elizabeth James didn't come through the hospital wing doors. Instead, it was Lucius Malfoy, who looked very displeased. "Ah, Dumbledore, I see that you've returned to the school?" Dumbledore smiled. "Well, did you catch the culprit?"

"Yes, and it was Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore said with a grave expression. Lucius nodded. "This time, he acted through a different way." Harry held up the diary, and to his surprise, Lucius backed away. "As for me returning to Hogwarts, the school governors decided I was the best candidate after all. Some were under the impression that you were going to curse their families if they didn't sign the document."

Mr. Malfoy ignored this last comment and glanced at Harry and Hallie. "Well, let's hope that the Potter couple will be around to save the day." he said, his eyes narrowing at them.

"Don't worry, we will be." Hallie growled at him. Dumbledore gave a chuckle, but stopped as she said, "Dobby! You work for the Malfoys?" Dobby whimpered and looked at Lucius. "Harry, give me the diary for a minute." Harry handed over the diary and she closed her curtains. Soon after, she got up, looked at Dumbledore and ran after Mr. Malfoy as he was leaving, Dobby by Harry's side. "Mr. Malfoy! Wait a minute!"

"What is it?" Lucius snapped.

"I think this belongs to you." she panted handing him the diary. Lucius took it and glared at her. "I think you put that into Ginny's cauldron in Diagon Alley before school started." Harry and Dobby ran up to her side. "Harry and I both think that's what happened."

"Why don't you prove it?" Mr. Malfoy hissed. "Come, Dobby, we're leaving." Dobby didn't move. "Dobby!" On his way out, the man tossed the diary at Harry, who caught it and told Dobby to open it.

"Master has given Dobby a sock!" Dobby said happily. Mr. Malfoy turned around, his face torn between shock and anger. "Dobby is free!"

"YOU LOST ME MY SERVANT!" shouted Lucius raising his wand. He started to say an incantation, but Dobby stopped him.

"You must not harm Harry Potter and his wife!" he yelled. Dobby pointed his finger at his old master and a burst of blue light made Lucius fly backwards. Dobby smiled happily and looked at the couple.

"Your parents were sentimental fools!" Lucius growled. "Mark my words, Harry Potter, you'll meet the same sticky end!" With that said, he stormed off.

"Dobby, do us a favor?" Harry said to Dobby, who looked up at him. "Don't save my life again."

"Dobby, does this mean that you can work for anyone you want to?" Hallie asked. Dobby nodded happily. "Then you'll come home with Harry and me after school and work for us!"

"Dobby would be pleased, miss!" Dobby squealed jumping into her arms. "Dobby is so happy to work with Harry Potter and his wife!"

"We knew you would be, Dobby," said Harry, "and that's why we talked about it before she gave you that sock." Dobby's face lit up and walked with them to the Great Hall for the end-of-term feast. About fifteen minutes into the feast, Hermione ran through the doors and into Harry's arms. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," said Hermione beaming at him. "Professor Snape concocted the Mandrake Draught and those who got Petrified, including Mrs. Norris, were cured. I can't believe you, Ron and Hallie solved it!"

"Well, we had your help," said Hallie shaking her hand. "We couldn't have done it without you." Hoping to hide the scar on her left palm, she tried to put it into her pocket, but Hermione was faster and asked what happened as she examined the scar. "Well, Tom Riddle possessed Ginny, who poured enough of her soul into the diary to let him out and shot a spell at me with Harry's wand."

"So, you and Harry have the same scar?" asked Ron hearing the conversation and shaking hands with Hermione. Hallie nodded. "Well, at least you're not dead. Mum and Dad would have a fit if you died."

"I love you, too, Ron," said Hallie hugging her cousin. Fred, George, Percy and Ginny all joined in and pulled Harry into the hug. "We're all one big family now, aren't we?"

Hagrid burst through the doors at this point and walked toward the staff table. "Sorry I'm late," he said looking at Ron, "but the release forms got lost somehow by an owl by the name of Erroll." Harry laughed and hugged them all again. "Well, Harry, without you, I wouldn't be here, so thanks."

"You're welcome." Harry said pulling Hallie into a kiss. Annie, who didn't realize what was happening, got up and bowled Harry over in a hug. "Well, the gang's all here!" Harry was very happy. Dobby was his house-elf now, he was married and was now part of the Weasley family. The best part, in his opinion, was that he didn't have to go back to the Dursleys.


End file.
